Singapore shares start the week in the red; STI down 0.8%

SINGAPORE stocks opened weaker on Monday (Oct 10), following losses on Wall Street as major global indices continue to slip. 

On the Singapore bourse, the Straits Times Index slipped 0.8 per cent or 26.16 points to 3,119.65 as at 9.01am. Losers surpassed gainers 109 to 17, after 32.2 million securities worth S$44.1 million changed hands. 

The most active counter by volume was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding , which traded 2.5 per cent or S$0.03 lower at $1.15 with 4.2 million shares traded. 

Other heavily traded securities include offshore oil and gas contractor Dyna-Mac Holdings , which inched up 2.6 per cent or S$0.005 at S$0.20 with 2.9 million securities changing hands, and Singtel , which dipped by 1.6 per cent or S$0.04 to S$2.49, with 2.6 million shares traded. 

Banking stocks declined in early morning trade. DBS fell by 0.4 per cent or S$0.12 to S$33.35, while OCBC dropped 0.8 per cent or S$0.09 to S$11.84. UOB sank 1 per cent or S$0.26 to S$26.44.

Active index counters included CapitaLand Investment , which fell 1.5 per cent or S$0.05 to S$3.39, and Singapore Airlines , which dropped 0.8 per cent or S$0.04 to S$5.09. 

Wall Street ended sharply lower on Friday, as a solid job report for September increased the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will barrel ahead with an interest rate hiking campaign. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 630.15 points or 2.1 per cent at 29,296.79, while the broad-based S&P 500 lost 104.86 points or 2.8 per cent to 3,639.66 and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite dropped 420.91 points or 3.8 per cent to 10,652.41. 

Likewise in Europe, shares slipped with the continent-wide Stoxx 600 falling 1.2 per cent, logging a third straight session of declines. 

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Stocks to watch: Singtel, SPH Reit, Aspen

Elsewhere in Asia, financial markets in Japan are closed on Monday for a public holiday.