Singapore stocks fall at Friday's open; STI down 0.1%

SINGAPORE stocks fell in early trade on Friday (Dec 17), following the negative lead from Wall Street.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.1 per cent or 3.09 points to 3,125.71 as at 9.02 am.

Losers outnumbered gainers 62 to 54 after 29.7 million securities worth S$47.2 million changed hands.

Singapore's non-oil domestic exports growth surged by 24.2 per cent year on year, picking up pace from the 17.8 per cent expansion in October. The growth was also ahead of the median forecast of a 15.3 per cent increase in a private Bloomberg poll.

Geo Energy Resources RE4 was among the most actively traded by volume, rising 1.5 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.34, with 2.3 million shares changing hands.

Digital security company Disa 532 remained unchanged at S$0.004, with some 2.3 million shares traded, while Thai Beverage Public Co Y92 rose 0.8 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.67, with 2.3 million units changing hands.

The trio of local banks were mixed in early trade. DBS D05 edged down 0.3 per cent or S$0.10 to S$32.23, while UOB (u11) rose 0.1 per cent or S$0.03 to S$27.06. OCBC (039) rose 0.3 per cent or S$0.03 to S$11.41 as at 9.03 am.

Other active index counters include Singtel Z74, which fell 1.7 per cent or S$0.04 to S$2.39, and Singapore Airlines C6L , which lost 0.2 per cent or S$0.01 to S$4.92.

Over on Wall Street, US stocks fell on Thursday (Dec 16) as the Federal Reserve's announcement of a faster end to its pandemic-era stimulus was made.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1 per cent to end at 35,897.64, while the S&P 500 lost 0.9 per cent to 4,668.67. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.5 per cent to 15,180.44.

Meanwhile, European shares had their best day in more than a week on Thursday. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 1.2 per cent, while the eurozone index closed up 0.9 per cent.

Elsewhere in the region, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Friday. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.7 per cent or 205.44 points at 28,860.88 in early trade, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.4 per cent or 7.75 points to 2,005.33.