Singapore stocks fall at Monday's open; STI down 0.7%

SINGAPORE shares fell in early trade on Monday (Dec 20), after Wall Street ended a tumultuous week of trading on a downbeat note.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.7 per cent or 21.2 points to 3,090.45 as at 9.08 am.

Losers outnumbered gainers 124 to 58, after 174.5 million securities worth S$141 million changed hands.

Digital security company DiSa 532 was the most actively traded in terms of volume as at 9.09 am, rising S$0.001 or 25 per cent to S$0.005, after 66.7 million shares were traded.

Integrated marine logistics company Marco Polo Marine 5LY was also actively traded, slipping S$0.001 or 3.6 per cent to S$0.027, with 7.4 million shares changing hands.

Index counter Singtel Z74 also saw heavy trading, with 5.6 million shares traded. The counter fell S$0.03 or 1.3 per cent to S$2.34.

Meanwhile, the trio of local banks were in the red as at 9.09 am. UOB U11 fell S$0.27 or 1 per cent to S$26.68, OCBC O39 was down S$0.11 or 1 per cent at S$11.26, while DBS D05 dropped S$0.15 or 0.5 per cent to S$32.29.

Over on Wall Street, US stocks ended lower on Friday (Dec 17) as investors searched for pockets of optimism amid concerns over the Omicron variant. The Federal Reserve's decision to accelerate the withdrawal of QE stimulus measures also weighed on sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1.5 per cent to close at 35,365.44, the broad-based S&P 500 fell 1 per cent to 4,620.64, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.1 per cent to 15,169.68.

Meanwhile, European stocks ended in the red on Friday, following rising fears about the economic fallout from Omicron.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 0.6 per cent after rallying on Thursday (Dec 16), when the European Central Bank reined in stimulus slightly but promised to support the bloc's economy.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Monday after declines on Wall Street. The Nikkei 225 index was down 0.7 per cent or 194.1 points at 28,351.60 in early trade, while the broader Topix index lost 0.8 per cent or 15.6 points to 1,968.83.