Singapore shares open lower on Wednesday as Wall Street fall continues; STI down 0.2% 

SINGAPORE stocks opened lower on Wednesday (Aug 24) after falls in major global markets.

The Straits Times Index (STI) was down 0.2 per cent or 4.92 points to 3,241.29 as at 9.01 am. Gainers outweighed losers 70 to 53 after 40.8 million securities worth S$68.2 million shares changed hands.

Marco Polo Marine was the most actively traded counter in the morning with 14.2 million shares transacted. The counter was up 5.9 per cent or S$0.002 at S$0.036. Among index counters, CapitaLand Investment traded lower by 0.8 per cent or S$0.03 at S$3.78 after 1.3 million shares were traded.

The trio of local banks traded lower at Wednesday’s open. DBS traded lower S$0.07 or 0.2 per cent to S$32.73, UOB was down S$0.07 or 0.3 per cent to S$27.44, while OCBC lost S$0.05 or 0.4 per cent to S$12.04.   Over in the US, Wall Street equities closed mostly lower on Tuesday as investors waited with bated breath for Fed chair Jerome Powell’s end-of-week speech and any revelations on his interest rate plans.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.5 per cent to finish the day at 32,909.59. The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.2 per cent to 4,128.73, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was flat, closing at 12,381.30.

European shares slipped on Tuesday, extending their losing streak for a third session as investors fretted about soaring energy prices and a weak economic outlook after data showed business activity in the region contracted this month.

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The pan-European Stoxx 600 slipped 0.4 per cent, dropping to its lowest in almost a month.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Wednesday in cautious trade after modest falls on Wall Street with all eyes on a meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming this week.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index inched up 0.03 per cent, or 9.72 points, at 28,462.47 in early trade, while the broader Topix index edged up 0.04 per cent, or 0.7 point, to 1,972.14.