Singapore shares decline at Monday's open; STI down 0.09% to 3,360.83

SINGAPORE stocks opened weaker on Monday, with the Straits Times Index moving down 0.09 per cent or 2.93 points to 3,360.83 as at 9.01am as investors remain cautious in amid corporate earnings season and lie in wait for a cut in US interest rates.

On the Singapore bourse, losers outnumbered gainers 60 to 51 after 32 million securities worth S$62.3 million changed hands.

Among the most heavily traded by volume, CWX Global headed down 25 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.003 with 2.5 million shares traded. Alita Resources rose 4.9 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.107 with 2.3 million shares traded. Net Pacific Fin Holdings gained 6.5 per cent or S$0.002 to S$0.033 with 1.7 million shares traded.

DBS Group Holdings, climbed 0.45 per cent or S$0.12 to S$27.00 after posting a 17 per cent rise in net profit before one-time items to S$1.60 billion from S$1.37 billion a year ago. This came on the back of higher total income as business momentum from the first quarter was sustained into the second quarter, the group said on Monday.

Other banking stocks like OCBC Bank meanwhile, was down 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$11.57; and United Overseas Bank, dipped 0.3 per cent or S$0.09 to S$26.84.

Other active index stocks included Singtel, unchanged at S$3.30, on an ex-dividend basis; Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust, up 0.5 per cent or S$0.01 to S$1.93, cum dividend.

In other Asian markets, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Monday on cautious sentiment over the resumption of US-China trade talks and ahead of the Federal Reserve's expected first rate cut in a decade. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index dipped 0.13 per cent or 28.04 points to 21,630.11 in early trade, while the Topix index fell 0.09 per cent or 1.4 points to 1,570.12.