Singapore: STI opens down 0.73% after Fed official's remarks on rate hikes

SINGAPORE share prices opened lower on Friday with the Straits Times Index down 24.9 points, or 0.73 per cent, to 3,392.87 at 9.01am.

The fresh plunge came after US stocks ended slightly lower on Thursday after the San Francisco Federal Reserve president John Williams said that the US central bank is likely to raise rates later this year.

The exchange's biggest losers in early trading were bank plays such as UOB, DBS and OCBC, as well as Singapore Airlines.

At 9.01am, UOB fell 31 cents at S$23.32, DBS 13 cents to S$20.21, and OCBC Bank nine cents to S$10.16.

Singapore Airlines dropped nine cents to S$11.34.

By 9.01am, 159.8 million shares worth S$520.8 million had changed hands, with losers outnumbering gainers 71 to 55.