Singapore shares open lower on Friday; STI down 0.7%

SINGAPORE shares opened lower on Friday after US markets closed almost flat overnight.

The Straits Times Index lost 18.73 points or 0.7 per cent to 2,523.64 as at 9.06am.

Losers outnumbered gainers 81 to 66, after 75.9 million securities worth S$72.7 million changed hands.

Among the most active by volume was Genting Singapore, which fell 1.5 Singapore cents or 2 per cent to 72.5 cents on 5.9 million shares traded.

Three healthcare-related counters were also heavily traded. Biolidics rose 3.5 Singapore cents or 7.1 per cent to 53 cents after 4.6 million shares changed hands, Clearbridge was up 1.5 Singapore cents or 6.7 per cent to 24 cents on 4.3 million shares, and Medtecs International increased 0.6 Singapore cent or 5.4 per cent to 11.8 cents after 3.7 million shares were traded.

As for banking stocks, DBS lost S$0.08 or 0.4 per cent to S$18.66, OCBC decreased S$0.08 or 0.9 per cent to S$8.57 while UOB was flat at S$19.57.

Wall Street stocks finished almost flat Thursday as oil prices bounced again, while the US reported another bruising round of jobless claims as a result of widespread coronavirus shutdowns.

Eslewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks also opened lower. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.5 per cent or 93.24 points at 19,336.20 in early trade, while the broader Topix index lost 0.5 per cent or 7.60 points to 1,418.38.