Singapore shares open lower on Thursday

SINGAPORE share prices opened 0.59 per cent lower on Thursday with the Straits Times Index down 17.1 points to 2,858.47 at 9.04am.

This followed US markets, which analysts say were hit by profit-taking after US stocks reached new records over the last three sessions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2 per cent to 18,495.66. The broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.3 per cent to 2,175.49, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.4 per cent to 5,204.58.

Tokyo's financial markets are closed on Thursday for a national holiday.

On the Singapore bourse, among the highest value traded stocks were UOB (down 28 Singapore cents to S$17.77), Singtel (up five cents to S$4.25) and City Developments (down five cents to S$8.84). The latter two companies announced their latest quarterly earnings on Thursday.

Overall on the stock market, 88.8 million shares worth S$107 million changed hands. Losers outnumbered gainers 77 to 58 as at 9.04am.