Singapore stocks fall at Friday's open; STI down 0.3%

SINGAPORE shares fell in early trade on Friday (Dec 10), following Wall Street losses overnight.

The Straits Times Index (STI) slipped 0.3 per cent or 9.09 points to 3,133.36 as at 9.02 am. Losers outnumbered gainers 63 to 47, after 41.4 million securities worth S$29.9 million changed hands.

Heavy equipment company Hoe Leong Corporation H20 was the most active counter in terms of volume, opening flat at S$0.002 with 7 million shares traded.

DiSa 532 was also among the most active counters at the open, trading unchanged at S$0.004, with 6.2 million shares changing hands. The counter opened with heavy trading for the second day in a row, after the digital security company on Thursday morning announced its partnership with the National University of Singapore and SingHealth to commercialise the new saliva-based Covid-19 antigen rapid test kits.

Index counter Mapletree Logistics Trust M44U was also actively traded on Friday morning, with 1.2 million units changing hands. The counter slipped S$0.01 or 0.5 per cent to S$1.88.

The trio of local banks were a sea of red at the open. DBS was down S$0.03 or 0.1 per cent to S$31.92, UOB fell S$0.12 or 0.5 per cent to S$26.75, while OCBC slipped S$0.03 or 0.3 per cent to S$11.31 as at 9.02 am.

Over on Wall Street, stocks on Thursday (Dec 9) took a breather from this week's stretch of gains, with 2 of the 3 main indices closing with solid losses and the Dow ending nearly flat.

The broad-based S&P 500 lost 0.7 per cent to finish at 4,667.45, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was the biggest loser, tumbling 1.7 per cent to 15,517.37. The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 35,754.69, less than a point below Wednesday's close.

Meanwhile, European shares ended lower on Thursday, pressured by Covid-19 worries as technology stocks continued their fall. Oil prices also weighed on energy companies. The pan-European Stoxx 600 erased early gains to end 0.1 per cent lower at 476.99.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Friday, after US shares snapped a 3-day rally, and as investors await a key inflation report due later in the day.

The Nikkei 225 index was down 0.5 per cent or 144.70 points at 28,580.77 in early trade, while the broader Topix index declined 0.2 per cent or 4.14 points to 1,986.65.