Singapore shares fall at Monday’s open; STI down 0.2%

SINGAPORE stocks fell in early trade on Monday (May 9), tracking losses in the global and regional markets amid growing concerns of slowing economic growth.

Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI) headed down 0.2 per cent or 7.34 points to 3,284.55 as at 9.02 am. Losers outnumbered gainers 88 to 43, after 55.8 million securities worth S$52.9 million changed hands.

One of the most active counter by volume was Jiutian Chemical, which rose 3.1 per cent or S$0.003 to S$0.101, with 13.6 million shares changing hands.

Other heavily traded securities included Sembcorp Marine which fell 1 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.095 with 3.9 million shares traded, as well as Yangzijiang Shipbuilding which stayed flat at S$0.89 with 3.5 million shares traded.

Banking stocks were mixed in early morning trade as at 9.02 am. DBS was trading up slightly at 0.03 per cent or S$0.01 at S$33.08, UOB was down 0.7 per cent or S$0.22 at S$29.34, while OCBC stayed flat at S$11.94.

Other active index counters included Singapore Telecommunications, which rose 0.4 per cent or S$0.01 to S$2.75, and Singapore Airlines, which dropped 0.8 per cent or S$0.04 to S$5.33.

In the US, Wall Street stocks finished lower last Friday, with tech shares sinking the most as markets shrugged off a solid jobs report amid worries over slowing growth and higher interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at 32,899.37, down 0.3 per cent. The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.6 per cent to 4,123.34, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slumped 1.4 per cent to 12,144.66.

Meanwhile, European stocks chalked up their worst week in 2 months last Friday, with tech stocks and retailers feeling the brunt of selling on the prospect of bigger interest rate hikes to tame decades-high inflation. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 1.9 per cent, with retailers down 2 per cent and technology stocks off 2.4 per cent.

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Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo’s stocks opened lower on Monday, tracking US falls on investor concern over higher interest rates, with focus shifting towards Japanese corporate earnings.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 1.12 per cent, or 302.68 points, at 26,700.88 in early trade, while the broader Topix index fell 0.79 per cent, or 15.12 points, to 1,900.79.