Singapore stocks fall at Thursday's open; STI down 1%

SINGAPORE shares opened lower on Thursday (Feb 24), extending losses on Wall Street.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 1 per cent or 34.29 points to 3,358.71 as at 9.03 am. Losers outnumbered gainers 114 to 41, after 90.3 million securities worth S$108.9 million changed hands.

The most actively traded counter by volume was mm2 Asia 1B0 , which saw 31.1 million shares worth S$1.9 million traded in the morning. Its shares gained S$0.008 or 14.6 per cent to S$0.063.

The entertainment company on Wednesday said it was planning to place out S$19.5 million new shares, representing 14.4 per cent of the company's enlarged share capital, to 2 investors. A total of 390 million new shares will be sold at S$0.05 apiece to Goi Seng Hui, who is executive chairman of Tee Yih Jia Group and GSH Corporation, and Oei Hong Leong, who is chairman of Chip Lian Investments, the Oei Hong Leong Foundation and the Nei Xue Tang museum.

Hutchison Port Holdings Trust NS8U was also actively traded, with 2.6 million units worth US$640,000 changing hands. The counter was down US$0.005 or 2 per cent at US$0.245.

Among index stocks, Singtel Z74 saw brisk trading, with 3.7 million shares worth S$9.5 million changing hands. Its shares were flat at S$2.56.

The trio of local banks were down in early trade. DBS D05 lost S$0.34 or 0.9 per cent to S$36.16, UOB U11 fell S$0.56 or 1.7 per cent to S$31.82, while OCBC O39 was down S$0.23 or 1.8 per cent to S$12.33.

In the US, Wall Street stocks finished decisively lower on Wednesday after an early rally sputtered amid worries over the Ukraine crisis and shifting Federal Reserve policy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.4 per cent to 33,131.76, the broad-based S&P 500 sank 1.8 per cent to 4,225.50, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 2.6 per cent to 13,037.49.

Meanwhile, European stocks ended lower on Wednesday as concerning headlines regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict dampened sentiment, while modest Western sanctions on Russia and strong corporate earnings updates helped limit further losses.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index slipped 0.3 per cent, after it firmed 1 per cent in early trading with banks, financial services firms and retailers leading declines.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Thursday, extending falls on Wall Street, with investors avoiding risks as tensions between Russia and Ukraine mount.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.6 per cent or 160.42 points to 26,289.19 at the open, while the broader Topix index was down 0.5 per cent or 9.91 points to 1,871.17.