Singapore stocks fall at Friday’s open; STI down 0.3%

SINGAPORE shares opened lower on Friday (Apr 22), tracking losses on Wall Street amid hawkish comments from the US Federal Reserve.

The Straits Times Index (STI) lost 0.3 per cent or 10.85 points to 3,337.61 as at 9.03 am. Losers outnumbered gainers 108 to 38, after 107.6 million securities worth S$94.5 million changed hands.

The most actively traded counter by volume was communications equipment company Addvalue Technologies , which saw 21.1 million of its shares worth S$360,000 traded at 9.03 am. Its shares were flat at S$0.018.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding also saw brisk trading, with 13.2 million shares worth S$10.9 million changing hands. The counter was down S$0.685 or 44.5 per cent at S$0.855.

Shareholders of the shipbuilding company had “overwhelmingly approved” the company’s proposed spin-off of its investment segment, it said on Wednesday.

Yangzijiang Financial Holding will therefore proceed to list on the Singapore Exchange on Apr 28. Meanwhile, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding’s last trading day on a cum-distribution basis is Apr 21, with shares of the group to trade on an ex-entitlement basis the day after.

Among other index stocks, telco Singtel was also actively traded, with 3.3 million shares worth S$8.6 million changing hands. Its shares were down S$0.03 or 1.1 per cent at S$2.63.

The trio of local banks were mixed in early trade. DBS was down S$0.14 or 0.4 per cent at S$33.25, UOB was flat at S$31.15, while OCBC was down S$0.07 or 0.6 per cent at S$12.01.

In the US, Wall Street stocks tumbled on Thursday as hawkish comments from the head of the Federal Reserve exacerbated worries over higher interest rates, offsetting strong corporate earnings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 1.1 per cent at 34,792.76, the broad-based S&P 500 dropped 1.5 per cent to end at 4,393.66, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 2.1 per cent to 13,174.65.

Meanwhile, strong earnings lifted European shares to 2-month highs on Thursday, while French shares outperformed as President Emmanuel Macron maintained his lead in polls ahead of Sunday’s election runoff with far-right rival Marine Le Pen.

The broader Stoxx 600 index closed up 0.3 per cent, with Nestle and ABB among the biggest boosts after upbeat earnings.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Friday, extending losses on Wall Street after the US Federal Reserve’s hawkish comments on its monetary tightening plans.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 1.5 per cent, or 410.48 points, at 27,142.58 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 1.2 per cent, or 22.36 points, at 1,905.64.