Singapore shares dip at Thursday’s open; STI down 0.1%

SINGAPORE stocks opened marginally lower on Thursday (Oct 20), after overnight losses booked by Wall Street. 

The Straits Times Index (STI) slipped 0.1 per cent or 3.02 points to open at 3,019.78 as at 9.02 am. Gainers and losers were evenly matched at 61 to 61 after 92 million securities worth S$72.6 million changed hands. 

One of the most active counters by volume was integrated resort operator Genting Singapore , which hiked 4.5 per cent or S$0.035 to S$0.81, with around 22 million shares changing hands.

Other heavily-traded securities included Sembcorp Marine , which rose 0.9 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.118, with 21.6 million shares traded; and Thai Beverage , which held steady at S$0.575, with about three million shares traded.  

Banking stocks were mixed at early trading – DBS inched down 0.6 per cent or S$0.18 to S$32.67, while OCBC increased 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$11.65. UOB traded flat at S$26.27. 

Active index counters included Yangzijiang Shipbuilding , which rose 0.9 per cent or S$0.01 to S$1.15, and Mapletree Logistics Trust , which remained unchanged at S$1.48. 

In the US, Wall Street stocks retreated on Wednesday, snapping a two-day rally as the latest jump in treasury yields exacerbated recession worries, offsetting generally good earnings. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.3 per cent at 30,423.81. The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.7 per cent to 3,695.19, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.9 per cent to 10,680.51.

Meanwhile in Europe, shares fell on Wednesday as investors fretted about runaway inflation, the prospect of more interest rate hikes and a mixed batch of earnings reports.

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The region-wide Stoxx 600 index ended 0.5 per cent lower, snapping a four-day rally that was mainly driven by hopes of a better-than-expected earnings season and the UK’s fiscal policy reversal.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo markets opened lower on Thursday after US stocks tumbled. 

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 1 per cent or 275.63 points to 26,981.75 at the open, while the broader Topix index fell 0.8 per cent or 14.56 points to 1,890.50.