Singapore shares open lower on Thursday; STI down 0.2%

SINGAPORE stocks fell in early trade on Thursday (Jun 9) following overnight losses in the US amid worries over inflation.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.2 per cent or 6.48 points to 3,219.32 as at 9.01 am. Gainers outnumbered losers 55 to 49 after 82.4 million securities worth S$63.1 million changed hands.

Sembcorp Marine was the top traded counter by volume, rising S$0.001 or 0.8 per cent to S$0.12 with some 27.5 million shares traded in the morning.

Other heavily traded securities include Rex International which rose 2.8 per cent or S$0.01 to S$0.37 with 8.5 million shares traded, as well as Oceanus which remained flat at S$0.02 with 6.8 million shares traded,

Among index counters, Singtel also saw brisk trading with 3.4 million shares changing hands at the open. It lost S$0.01 or 0.4 per cent to S$2.54.  

Banking stocks were mixed in early trade as at 9.01 am. DBS was down 0.5 per cent or S$0.14 at S$30.37, OCBC slipped 0.3 per cent or S$0.03 to S$11.86, while UOB edged up 0.04 per cent or S$0.01 to reach S$28.41.

In the US, stocks retreated on Wednesday (Jun 8) on festering worries about inflation as oil prices jumped and the White House warned of another gloomy consumer price report later this week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.8 per cent to 32,910.90. The broad-based S&P 500 shed 1.1 per cent to 4,115.77, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.7 per cent to 12,088.27.

European shares fell in tandem with Wall Street losses on Wednesday, with concerns around economic growth slowdown while investors braced for the European Central Bank’s meeting on Thursday and the US Federal Reserve’s next week.

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The pan-European Stoxx 600 index declined 0.6 per cent to 440.37, with banks falling 0.9 per cent after Credit Suisse said it was likely to see a group-wide loss in the second quarter as volatility hit its investment bank. 

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened nearly flat on Thursday after a 4-day winning streak and overnight falls of US shares.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index edged down 0.02 per cent or 4.78 points at 28,229.51, while the broader Topix index fell 0.2 per cent or 2.87 points to 1,967.11.