Singapore shares fall at Monday's open; STI down 0.8%

SINGAPORE stocks opened weaker on Monday (Apr 25), tracking losses in the global and regional markets. It was the third straight week of losses for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq on Wall Street, while the Dow Jones posted its fourth weekly decline in a row.

The Straits Times Index fell 0.8 per cent or 26.15 points to 3,334.96 as at 9.04 am. Losers outnumbered gainers 150 to 32, after 140.9 million securities worth S$117.5 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was Sembcorp Marine , which fell 0.8 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.122 with 20.3 million shares changing hands as at 9.06 am.

Other heavily traded securities included Addvalue Technologies which tumbled 5.9 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.016 with 15.8 million shares traded, as well as Yangzijiang Shipbuilding which slid 2.1 per cent or S$0.02 to S$0.945 with 11.8 million shares traded.

iFast Corporation plunged 6.9 per cent or S$0.39 to S$5.27, after the fintech platform on Saturday posted a near 35 per cent year-on-year drop in net profit to S$5.74 million for the first 3 months ended Mar 31, 2022.

Banking stocks fell in early morning trade. DBS was down 0.5 per cent or S$0.16 to S$33.48 as at 9.06 am, UOB lost 1.1 per cent or S$0.35 to S$30.78, while OCBC dropped 1 per cent or S$0.12 to S$11.99.

Other active index counters included Singtel , which decreased 0.4 per cent or S$0.01 to S$2.65 as at 9.06 am, and Singapore Airlines , which was down 0.2 per cent or S$0.01 at S$5.51.

In the US, stocks plunged on Friday, as surprise earnings news and increased certainty around aggressive near-term interest rate rises took its toll on investors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.8 per cent to 33,811.4 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.6 per cent to 12,839.29. The S&P 500 lost 2.8 per cent to 4,271.78.

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All 11 major S&P 500 sectors were down, although the 3.6 per cent slip by healthcare was outdone by materials, which was off 3.7 per cent.

European shares, meanwhile, closed at near 1-month lows on Friday amid worries over China’s Covid-19 lockdowns and rapid interest rate hikes. The pan-European Stoxx 600 slid 1.8 per cent to 453.43.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Monday, tracking Wall Street’s decline. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index declined 1.5 per cent to 26,690.69 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 1.6 per cent or 30.16 points at 1,874.99.

Amendment note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Singapore stocks rose when they in fact fell. The article has been amended to reflect this change.