Singapore shares open in the red after US data disappoints; STI down 1.2%

SINGAPORE shares declined sharply at Wednesday’s (Sep 14) open after stronger-than-expected US inflation data triggered Wall Street selloffs overnight.

As at 9.01 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) shed 1.2 per cent or 39.9 points to 3,250.17. Losers outnumbered gainers 159 to 19 after 84.4 million securities worth S$94.5 million changed hands.

Sembcorp Marine was the top-traded counter of the morning in terms of volume, losing S$0.002 or 1.8 per cent to S$0.111 after 7.3 million of its shares changed hands.

Indonesian water treatment company Moya Holdings Asia also saw brisk trading at the open, rising S$0.024 or 36.9 per cent to S$0.089 with some 7 million securities transacted. This comes after the group announced plans to go private through a voluntary cash offer from its majority shareholder at S$0.092 per share.

Index counter Singtel fell S$0.06 or 2.2 per cent in early trade to S$2.67 after 3.6 million shares were transacted.

The trio of local banks opened into negative territory on Wednesday morning. DBS lost S$0.44 or 1.3 per cent to S$33.19, OCBC declined S$0.10 or 0.8 per cent to trade at S$12.17, and UOB was down S$0.41 or 1.5 per cent at S$27.15.

Wall Street equities ended Tuesday with steep losses following disappointing US inflation data, which extinguished investor hopes that slowing price increases would allow the Federal Reserve to eventually pull back on its tough anti-inflation fight.

The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged nearly 1,300 points, a 3.9 per cent loss to finish the session at 31,104.97. The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 4.3 per cent to 3,932.69, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index collapsed 5.2 per cent to 11,633.57.

European shares, too, retreated from 2-week highs as the fresh US inflation data cemented bets for another large interest rate hike by the Fed.

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Singapore stocks lifted on US bear market rally; STI up 0.5%

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index snapped a 3-session winning streak, closing 6.62 points or 1.6 per cent lower at 421.13 on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo shares sank at Wednesday’s open to mirror global market declines.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 2.6 per cent or 753.85 points to 28,860.78 in early trade, while the broader Topix index fell 2.1 per cent or 40.94 points to 1,945.63.