Singapore stocks dip on Tuesday's open; STI down 0.3%

SINGAPORE shares opened lower on Tuesday, tracking declines in the region and overnight US markets as enthusiasm over the recent coronavirus stimulus package was dampened by the emergence of a new Covid strain in the UK.

The Straits Times Index (STI) slid 0.3 per cent or 8.07 points to 2,838.45 as at 9.02 am.

Losers outnumbered gainers 56 to 51, with 78 million securities worth S$45.5 million changing hands.

Among the index securities, SIA fell S$0.03 or 0.7% to S$4.35 as at 9.02am. This comes after the flag carrier on Monday said it has used up 80% of the S$8.8 billion raised from a rights issue in June.

Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT) inched down 0.5 per cent or $0.01 to $1.96. On Monday evening, the trust's manager announced that MLT has has acquired a newly built freehold logistics facility in Hiroshima, Japan for 6.37 billion yen (S$82.1 million).

Shares of Sembcorp Marine were the most actively traded in terms of volume, with 13.6 million shares worth S$1.9 million changing hands as at 9.03am. The counter was down 0.3 Singapore cent or 2.1 per cent at 14.1 cents.

The trio of local banks were trading mixed in early trade. DBS was down 0.3 per cent or S$0.07 at S$25.13. On the other hand, UOB edged up 0.1 per cent or S$0.03 to S$22.63, and OCBC rose 0.3 per cent or S$0.03 to S$10.10 as at 9.02am.

Major indices in the US closed mixed on Monday with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq in the red, though financials helped the blue-chip Dow reverse for a modest gain. The S&P 500 lost 14.49 points or 0.4 per cent to 3,694.92, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 13.12 points or 0.1 per cent to 12,742.52. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 37.4 points or 0.1 per cent to 30,216.45.

While news of the long-anticipated US$900 billion stimulus package included unemployment aid, small business relief and vaccine distribution, the dollar amount fell short of what many market participants had hoped for.

Following the discovery of a new and highly infectious strain of the coronavirus in the UK, growing numbers of nations restricted travel of people and movement of goods to and from the sovereign state, prompting UK and European stock markets to tumble on Monday. The FTSE 100 index was down by 2.7 per cent, Germany by 3.9 per cent and France by 3.5 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Tuesday following the mixed close on Wall Street as investor worries intensified over the new coronavirus strain. The Nikkei 225 index was down 0.5 per cent or 124.63 points at 26,589.79 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 0.7 per cent or 13.03 points at 1,776.02.