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

SINGAPORE stocks fell in early trade on Thursday (Apr 14) after advance estimates from the Ministry of Trade and Industry showed the economy grew 3.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2022, just below economists' expectations.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.1 per cent or 2.18 points to 3,340.04 as at 9.01 am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 94 to 27 after 113.3 million securities worth S$66.9 million changed hands.

Arion Entertainment was the most actively traded counter in terms of volume on Thursday morning, with 35.5 million shares changing hands as at 9.01 am. The counter rose 37.5 per cent or S$0.003 to S$0.011.

iWOW Technology, which made its Catalist debut on Thursday, saw a volume of 2.2 million shares traded, with its share price flat at S$0.275.

Index counter Mapletree Commercial Trust was also actively traded in terms of volume, with 1.4 million shares changing hands before it ended flat at S$1.88.

The trio of local banks were all in negative territory at the open, with UOB falling 0.6 per cent or S$0.18 to S$30.73. DBS dropped 0.4 per cent or S$0.12 to S$33.46, while OCBC slipped 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$12.05.

Wall Street rallied to end sharply higher on Wednesday, powered by a recovery in interest-sensitive growth stocks as investors digested hot inflation data and a mixed bag of quarterly results.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite led all 3 major US stock indices higher, jumping 2 per cent or 272.02 points to 13,643.59. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 344.23 points or 1 per cent to 34,564.59, while the S&P 500 gained 49.14 points or 1.1 per cent to 4,446.59.

European shares held steady on Wednesday as investors digested glum inflation data and its impact on the upcoming earnings season ahead of a key European Central Bank meeting, while commodity-linked sectors gained on supply worries.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was flat, with retail stocks and defensives such as real estate sliding between 0.2 per cent and 0.6 per cent, while oil and mining shares rose.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Thursday following Wall Street gains. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index firmed 0.3 per cent or 92.29 points to 26,935.78 in early trade, while the broader Topix index gained 0.4 per cent or 7.03 points to 1,894.84.