Singapore stocks decline as virus fears linger; STI opens 0.4% lower

SINGAPORE shares slipped when trading began at the start of the week along with other Asian equities, as the coronavirus outbreak continues to keep markets on edge.

Singapore's Straits Times Index (STI) fell 10.13 points or 0.4 per cent to 2,561.19 as at 9am on Monday.

Losers outnumbered gainers 75 to 55, after about 29.9 million securities worth S$28 million changed hands.

Among the most actively traded by volume, Singtel gained S$0.01 or 0.4 per cent to S$2.72, with about 1.5 million shares traded. Meanwhile, Genting Singapore declined 0.5 Singapore cent or 0.7 per cent to 72 cents, with about 575,000 shares traded.

The trio of banking stocks were down in the early session of trading. DBS lost S$0.10 or 0.5 per cent to S$19.04, UOB slipped S$0.17 or 0.8 per cent to S$20.00, while OCBC Bank fell S$0.07 or 0.8 per cent to S$8.88.

The three local lenders told The Business Times that staff will not suffer pay cuts, despite being redeployed amid numerous bank branches suspending operations to meet stricter safe distancing requirements.

Other active securities included Sats, which dropped S$0.08 or 2.5 per cent to S$3.12, and Mapletree Logistics Trust, which fell S$0.03 or 1.7 per cent to S$1.69.

Separately, ST Engineering gained S$0.04 or 1.2 per cent to S$3.30.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Japan's Topix shed 0.9 per cent, while South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.5 per cent.