Singapore shares open 0.4% down on Friday

SINGAPORE stocks opened 0.4 per cent lower on Friday, with the Straits Times Index shedding 12.94 points to 3,255.94 as at 9am. This comes on the back of US stocks falling sharply on Thursday following a deadly attack in Barcelona, and amid rising concerns that US President Donald Trump may have endangered his economic agenda after alienating business leaders.

On the Singapore bourse, about 48.3 million shares worth S$46 million in total changed hands, which worked out to an average unit price of S$0.95 per share.

The most actively traded counter was Starburst, which rose S$0.015 to S$0.420 with 12.8 million shares changing hands. Other actives included Swee Hong and Lion Gold.

Losers outnumbered gainers 107 to 32.

Elsewhere, Japan's Topix fell 0.9 per cent, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 1.3 per cent. South Korea's Kospi index declined 1.1 per cent and futures on Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 0.3 per cent, Bloomberg reported.