Singapore shares open down on Thursday

SINGAPORE stocks opened lower on Thursday, with the Straits Times Index retreating 0.2 per cent or 7.59 points to 3,336.29 as at 9.02am.

This comes as US stocks fell into the red overnight, weighed down by lacklustre earnings and growing trepidation about tax reform plans. The Dow Industrials and S&P 500 indices suffered their worst day in seven weeks.

On the Singapore bourse, about 111 million shares worth S$122.9 million exchanged hands. Losers outnumbered gainers 79 to 59.

The most actively traded counter was CSC Holdings, which rose S$0.003 to S$0.031 with 9.1 million shares changing hands. Other actives included Jiutian Chemical Group and Artivision Technologies.

Elsewhere, Australian stocks dipped 0.2 per cent, while South Korea's Kospi was flat. Japan's Nikkei, which had snapped a 16-day winning run the previous day, rose 0.35 per cent, Reuters reported.