Singapore stocks fall at Tuesday's open; STI down 0.4%

SINGAPORE stocks fell in early trade on Tuesday (Apr 12) after Wall Street closed sharply lower on Monday.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.4 per cent or 14.24 points to 3,349.32 as at 9.01 am.

Losers outnumbered gainers 82 to 26 after 41.2 million securities worth S$45.4 million changed hands.

International Cement shares were the most actively traded counter in terms of volume on Tuesday morning, with 5.8 million shares changing hands as at 9.01 am. The counter rose 3.5 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.03.

Sembcorp Marine was the second most actively traded counter in terms of volume. Its share price was up 0.9 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.107, with 4.9 million shares traded.

Index counter Thai Beverage was also actively traded, with 1.1 million shares changing hands before it ended flat at S$0.71.

The trio of local banks were all in the red at the open, with DBS dropping 0.4 per cent or S$0.12 to S$33.93. OCBC fell 0.7 per cent or S$0.08 to S$12.06, while UOB lost 0.4 per cent or S$0.11 to S$31.39.

Wall Street indices closed lower on Monday as investors started the week in a risk-off mood, with rising bond yields weighing on market-leading growth stocks ahead of crucial inflation data. All 3 major US stock indexes ended deep in negative territory, with tech and tech-adjacent stocks pulling the Nasdaq down.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.2 per cent or 413.04 points to 34,308.08, the S&P 500 lost 75.75 points or 1.7 per cent to 4,412.53 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 299.04 points or 2.2 per cent to 13,411.96.

European stocks also fell on Monday as surging bond yields hit technology shares and volatility gripped French blue-chip stocks on forecasts of a tight presidential race. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index dropped 0.6 per cent, led by a 2.2 per cent slide in technology stocks.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo shares opened down Tuesday. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 0.8 per cent, or 214.23 points, to 26,607.29, while the broader Topix index slid 0.45 per cent, or 8.55 points, to 1,880.22.