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

SINGAPORE stocks fell in early trade on Wednesday (Feb 23) morning after US stocks declined sharply overnight as Russia-Ukraine tensions grow.

The Straits Times Index (STI) dropped 0.4 per cent or 13.78 points to 3,386.8 as at 9.03 am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 68 to 51 after 42.3 million securities worth S$89.2 million changed hands.

The most actively traded counter by volume at Wednesday's open was mainboard-listed ComfortDelGro C52 . Shares of the transport company traded at S$1.45, down 1.4 per cent or S$0.02 with 4.9 million shares changing hands.

Thai Beverage Y92 was also among the actively traded securities on Wednesday. The counter rose 0.7 per cent or S$0.005 to trade at S$0.70.

Another heavily traded security was Mapletree Logistics Trust M44U . Units of the trust grew 1.1 per cent or S0.02 to S$1.79.

The trio of local banks were mixed on Wednesday morning.

OCBC O39 tumbled 4.5 per cent or S$0.59 to S$12.57. Before the market opened, the bank posted a 14 per cent decrease in net profit for its fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2021 to S$973 million.

DBS D05 climbed 0.03 per cent or S$0.01 to S$36.26, while UOB U11 fell 0.03 per cent or S$0.01 to S$32.19 as at 9.03 am.

Over on Wall Street, US stocks fell sharply on Tuesday after US President Joe Biden announced new sanctions on Russia following its latest escalations in the Ukraine crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 1.4 per cent, or about 480 points, at 33,596.61. The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 1 per cent to 4,304.76, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slid 1.2 per cent to 13,381.52.

Meanwhile, European shares ended largely unchanged on Tuesday with Western countries imposing sanctions on Russia after it ordered troops into 2 breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index ended at 455.12.

Elsewhere in Asia, the Tokyo stock market is closed on Wednesday for a public holiday. Trading will resume on Thursday, Feb 24.