Singapore shares open 1% lower on Thursday

SINGAPORE stocks opened one per cent lower on Thursday, with the Straits Times Index dropping 26.16 points to 2,555.94 as at 9am.

The blue-chip index was dragged down further after US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen told Congress she does not expect the central bank to reverse course on its interest rate-hike plans but signalled that there were risks of delays.

About 25 million shares worth S$49.5 million changed hands, which worked out to an average price of S$1.98 per share.

The most actively traded counter was Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel), which fell S$0.06 to S$3.60 with 5.4 million shares changing hands. Other actives included Luzhou Bio-Chem Technology and Noble Group.

Losers outnumbered gainers 96 to 35, or about eight down for every three up.