Singapore shares open lower on Monday following Wall Street losses; STI down 0.2%

SINGAPORE stocks opened lower on Monday (Aug 22) following losses in major global markets. The Straits Times Index (STI) was down 0.2 per cent or 6.51 points to 3,240 as at 9.01 am. Losers outweighed gainers 84 to 46 after 73.3 million securities worth S$102.8 million shares changed hands.

3Cnergy was the most actively traded counter in the morning with 9.9 million shares transacted. The counter stayed flat at S$0.005. Among index counters, Singapore Post traded lower at S$0.015 or 2.4 per cent to S$0.605 after 2.8 million shares were traded.

The trio of local banks traded mixed at Monday’s open. DBS traded higher S$0.11 or 0.3 per cent to S$32.15, OCBC slid S$0.05 or 0.4 per cent to S$12.16, UOB lost S$0.01 or 0.4 per cent to S$26.81.   Over in the US, Wall Street stocks took a drip on Friday on lingering worries about inflation and higher equity valuations, snapping a 4-week winning streak of weekly gains.

The broad-based S&P 500 finished at 4,228.48, down 1.3 per cent for the day and a bit more than 1 per cent for the week in the index’ first decline in 4 weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.9 per cent to 33,706.74, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 2 per cent to 12,705.22.

European shares fell on Friday and posted a weekly loss as the highest-ever jump in German producer prices in July added to gloom over the economic outlook for the region’s biggest economy and rekindled fears of a recession.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended 0.8 per cent lower, with travel stocks leading the declines.

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Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo opened lower on Monday on renewed fears of interest rate hikes following hawkish comments from US Federal Reserve officials.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 1.2 per cent, or 331.43 points, to 28,598.90 in early trade, while the broader Topix index lost 0.9 per cent, or 16.96 points, to 1,977.56.