Singapore shares open lower on Wednesday; STI down 0.1% to 3,587.18

SINGAPORE stocks opened lower on Wednesday, with the Straits Times Index dropping 4.9 points, or 0.1 per cent to 3,587.18 as at 9.04 am.

This came despite US stocks rising overnight, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closing on record highs, thanks to advances for Netflix and toymakers Mattel and Hasbro.

On the Singapore bourse, about 113.6 million shares worth S$205.5 million in total changed hands. Gainers outnumbered losers 120 to 54.

The most actively traded counters were Sembcorp Marine, which rose 1.56 per cent, or four Singapore cents to S$2.61 with 9.4 million shares changing hands; and Ley Choon Group Holdings which rose 4.55 per cent, or 0.2 Singapore cent to 4.6 Singapore cents with 6.98 million shares traded.

Other active index stocks included UOB which was down 0.6 per cent or 17 Singapore cents to S$28.20; and UOL Group which was down 0.65 per cent, or six Singapore cents to S$9.23.