Singapore shares open lower at Friday’s open; STI down 0.3%

SINGAPORE stocks fell in early trade on Friday (Oct 21) after a mixed day for global stock markets.

The Straits Times Index dipped 0.3 per cent or 8.89 points to 3013.81 as at 9.04 am. Losers outnumbered gainers 71 to 43 after 51.2 million securities worth S$35.2 million changed hands.

Shares of Sembcorp Marine were the most actively traded in terms of volume, with 16 million shares changing hands. The counter gained 0.8 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.12.

Shares of index counters Thai Beverage and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Singapore also saw significant trading activity in terms of volume. The former remained unchanged at S$0.57, while the latter was down 0.8 per cent or S$0.01 to S$1.20.

Meanwhile, Singtel declined 0.4 per cent or S$0.01 to S$2.45, with 1.1 million of its shares traded.

The trio of banks saw mixed fortunes on Friday morning’s trade. As at 9.04 am, OCBC was up 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$11.65. On the other hand, DBS shed 0.1 per cent or S$0.04 to S$32.65, while UOB fell 0.2 per cent or S$0.06 to S$26.1.

In the US, Wall Street stocks dipped on Thursday following the latest rise in US Treasury yield as weak housing data pointed to the drag from higher lending rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.3 per cent at 30,333.59. The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.8 per cent to 3,665.78, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.6 per cent to 13,869.19.

Meanwhile, shares rose on Thursday after Liz Truss said she was resigning as the United Kingdom’s prime minister, brought down by her economic programme that wrecked havoc on markets.

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The region-wide Stoxx 600 closed 0.3 per cent up after flirting between gains and losses right after the announcement in London.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo shares opened lower on Friday, extending losses after falls on Wall Street as US Treasury yields rose, reflecting fresh rate hike worries.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.4 per cent, or 101.18 points, to 26,905.78 in early trade, while the broader Topix index fell 0.44 per cent, or 8.37 points, to 1,887.04.