Singapore stocks open lower, tracking US markets; STI down 0.5%

SINGAPORE shares opened lower on Tuesday after US markets fell overnight amid dwindling hopes for a stimulus deal.

The Straits Times Index (STI) lost 13.63 points or 0.5 per cent to 2,529.94 as at 9.04am.

Losers outnumbered gainers 75 to 40, after 103.2 million securities worth S$66.4 million changed hands.

Sembcorp Marine was among the most actively traded counters by volume, slipping 0.1 Singapore cent or 0.7 per cent to 14 cents, after 15.7 million shares were traded.

Other active counters include Singapore Telecommunications, unchanged at S$2.15 with 2.4 million shares changing hands, and Keppel Corp, down S$0.03 or 0.7 per cent to S$4.55, with 1.8 million shares traded.

The three local banks dropped in early trade. DBS lost S$0.13 or 0.6 per cent to S$21.44, UOB slipped S$0.06 or 0.3 per cent to S$19.64, while OCBC declined S$0.09 or 1 per cent to S$8.66.

Maybank Kim Eng on Friday released a research report which maintained its negative outlook on the banks for the third quarter this year. It expects net interest margins to remain weak ahead of third-quarter trading updates by DBS, UOB and OCBC in early November.

Wall Street ended in negative territory on Monday, erasing early gains amid signs of rising coronavirus infections and fading hopes for a US stimulus deal.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.4 per cent or over 400 points to finish at 28,195.42, while the broad-based S&P 500 and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite each fell 1.6 per cent to 3,426.92 and 11,478.88 respectively.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Tuesday. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.2 per cent or 55.30 points to 23,615.83 in early trade, while the broader Topix index fell 0.3 per cent or 4.15 points to 1,633.83.