Singapore shares fall at Tuesday's open; STI dips 0.1%

SINGAPORE shares started Tuesday on a softer note after US stocks reversed course to close mostly lower overnight.

On the Singapore bourse, the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) slipped 2.29 points or 0.1 per cent to 2,855.85 as at 9.01am.

Decliners outnumbered advancers 72 to 65, after 100.7 million securities worth S$121.8 million changed hands.

Among the heavily traded counters, Sembcorp Marine shed 0.4 Singapore cent or 2.5 per cent to 15.9 cents, with 19.9 million shares traded, while Singtel was flat at S$2.35 with four million shares traded.

In a televised address to the nation on Monday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the government has set aside over a billion dollars to ensure all citizens and long-term residents who want a vaccination should be able to get one - free of charge - by the end of 2021. The first shipment of the Health Sciences Authority-approved Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is expected to reach Singapore's shores before Dec 31 this year.

With Covid-19 vaccination set to be available, Singapore's growth may gain a boost late in the year, said economists - though much hinges on the extent of border reopening.

Analysts also noted that cyclical stocks linked to domestic consumption is expected to benefit. They see banks as long-term winners of recovery, while food and beverage and telcos are other sectors forecast to get a boost.

The trio of local lenders were mixed in early trade. DBS gained S$0.06 or 0.2 per cent to S$25.51, UOB slipped S$0.12 or 0.5 per cent to S$22.80, while OCBC lost S$0.06 or 0.6 per cent to S$10.07.

Other active securities included Singapore Exchange which was down S$0.10 or 1.1 per cent to S$9.25, and Mapletree Logistics Trust which retreated S$0.02 or 1 per cent to S$1.91.

Over on Wall Street, US stocks opened strong on Monday but retreated to close mostly lower, amid renewed concern that soaring Covid-19 infections will lead to more lockdowns.

After hitting a 52-week high during the trading session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended with a loss of 0.6 per cent, dropping below the 30,000 mark to 29,861.55.

The broad-based S&P 500 also fell 0.4 per cent to finish at 3,647.49, but the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index bucked the trend, gaining 0.5 per cent to close at 12,440.04.

European shares rose on Monday, as a decision to extend trade talks between Britain and the European Union kept hopes of an eventual deal alive. With banks in the lead, the benchmark Stoxx 600 index rose 0.4 per cent after breaking a five-week winning streak to end 1 per cent lower last week.

Meanwhile, London's FTSE 100 was range-bound, and ended the session 0.2 per cent lower as a rising pound, declining energy shares and a near 6 per cent drop in British drugmaker AstraZeneca weighed.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Tuesday, following losses on Wall Street and the suspension of a domestic tourism campaign. The Nikkei 225 index lost 0.2 per cent or 49.33 points to 26,683.11 at the open, while the broader Topix index slid 0.2 per cent or 2.70 points to 1,787.82.