Singapore stocks dip at Wednesday’s open; STI down 0.3%

THE Singapore Exchange started Wednesday (Nov 2) weaker as US stocks declined for a second consecutive trading day.

As at 9.01 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) declined 0.3 per cent or 7.86 points to 3,122.64. Losers outnumbered gainers 65 to 54 after 45.9 million securities worth S$49.2 million changed hands.

Sembcorp Marine was the top-traded counter by volume, dropping 0.8 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.13, with 22.8 million of its shares traded.

Meanwhile, 1.7 million shares of ComfortDelGro changed hands. The counter was the second-top traded by volume, and gained 0.8 per cent or S$0.01 to S$S$1.31.

Index counter Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust  traded flat at S$1.11, with 1.2 million shares transacted.

The trio of local banks were mixed in early trade. UOB gained 0.1 per cent or S$0.02 to S$28.03. DBS rose 0.3 per cent or S$0.10 to S$34.68, while OCBC dipped 0.8 per cent or S$0.10 to S$12.07. 

In the US, Wall Street stocks retreated on Tuesday after mixed US economic data added to nervousness ahead of a major decision by the Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.2 per cent at 32,653.20. The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.4 per cent to 3,856.10, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.9 per cent to 10,890.85.

Meanwhile, European shares gained on Tuesday, starting November on an upbeat note amid growing hopes that the US Federal Reserve would slow down the pace of its interest rate hikes.

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The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.6 per cent to hit a near seven-week closing high of 414.61, with miners and retailers leading the gains.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Wednesday, extending falls on Wall Street.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.4 per cent, or 98.66 points, at 27,580.26 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 0.1 per cent, or 1.11 points, at 1,937.39.