Singapore equities open lower on Monday; STI down 0.8%

SINGAPORE stocks fell in early trade on Monday (Jan 24) after Wall Street indices ended last week significantly lower.

The Straits Times Index (STI) dipped 0.8 per cent or 26.05 points to 3,268.81 as at 9.01 am.

Losers outnumbered gainers 95 to 39 after 50.2 million securities worth S$48.4 million changed hands.

HGH Holdings 5GZ shares was the most actively traded security on Monday morning, with 15.7 million shares changing hands. The counter fell 18.2 per cent or S$0.002 to S$0.009.

Units of ESR-Reit J91U were among the top 3 actively traded counters in terms of volume. Its units were down 1.1 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.465.

Among index counters, Singtel Z74 fell 0.8 per cent or S$0.02 to S$2.46 as at 9.01 am. Genting Singapore G13 was also heavily traded. The integrated resort operator dropped 1.3 per cent or S$0.01 to S$0.765 with 1.7 million shares moving on Monday morning.

The local banks were all in the red on Monday morning. DBS D05 was down 1 per cent or S$0.34 to S$35.21 and OCBC O39 also dropped 1 per cent or S$0.12 to S$12.19. UOB U11 dipped 1.3 per cent or S$0.38 to S$29.99.

In the US, all 3 indices sank further in the red on Friday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite booking their biggest weekly percentage drops since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.3 per cent or 450.02 points to 34,265.37. The S&P 500 lost 84.79 points or 1.9 per cent to 4,397.94 and the Nasdaq dropped 385.10 points or 2.7 per cent to 13,768.92.

Meanwhile, European shares were down for the third straight week as tightening monetary policy in banks and weak economic data sparked a global sell off. The pan-European Stoxx 600 dropped 1.8 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Monday after investors were disheartened by Wall Street falls. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.8 per cent or 210.28 points to 27,311.98 in early trade, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.7 per cent or 14.10 points to 1,913.08.