Singapore stocks fall at open as vaccine optimism fades; STI down 0.9%

SINGAPORE shares opened weaker on Wednesday after a mixed overnight session on Wall Street, amid waning investor enthusiasm over a possible Covid-19 vaccine.

Optimism from Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine announcement on Monday was tempered by the realisation that economic gains will likely not be felt until late next year as it will take months for any vaccine to be widely distributed.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.9 per cent or 24.4 points to 2,680.60 as at 9.06am.

Losers outnumbered gainers 83 to 76, after 227.7 million securities worth S$170 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was Oceanus, which rose 9.1 per cent or 0.1 Singapore cent to 1.2 cents with 81.9 million shares traded.

Other heavily traded securities include Sembcorp Marine, which dropped 0.8 per cent or 0.1 Singapore cent to 13.3 cents, with 11.3 million shares changing hands. The group on Wednesday said it continued to incur losses for its fiscal third quarter ended Sept 30, with low overall business volume and execution delays.

Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust lost 6.3 per cent or S$0.20 to S$2.99, with 7.5 million units changing hands. The Reit on Wednesday priced its preferential offering to unitholders at S$2.96 per new unit and the private placement at S$3.026, as part of its S$1.2 billion equity fundraising.

Most glove makers recovered slightly from Tuesday's dive, with Malaysian property developer and soon-to-be glove maker Aspen Holdings rising 1.9 per cent or 0.5 Singapore cent to 26.5 cents.

UG Healthcare Corporation gained 1.2 per cent or one Singapore cent to 81.5 cents, while Top Glove edged up 0.4 per cent or S$0.01 to S$2.56. However, Riverstone declined 1.2 per cent or S$0.02 to S$3.48.

Medical apparel maker Medtecs International held steady at S$1.02, while Thai-based rubber producer Sri Trang Agro-Industry was unchanged at S$1.19.

Banking stocks were mixed in early trade. DBS was down 1.5 per cent or S$0.36 to S$24.04, UOB dipped 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$21.25, while OCBC edged up 0.2 per cent or S$0.02 to S$9.45.

Other active counters include Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, which dropped 3.1 per cent or three Singapore cents to 93.5 cents, and Singapore Airlines (SIA), which advanced 0.5 per cent or S$0.02 to S$3.93.

SATS and SIA Engineering gave back some of their gains from Tuesday's surge. SATS was down 0.6 per cent or S$0.02 to S$3.48, while SIA Engineering fell 1.7 per cent or S$0.03 to S$1.75.

In the US, stocks pulled back from the celebration that followed good news on a potential Covid-19 vaccine, ending Tuesday's session mixed.

The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the day with a 0.9 per cent gain at 29,420.92, the broader S&P 500 dipped 0.1 per cent to 3,545.53, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.4 per cent to close at 11,553.86.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Wednesday despite a mixed performance on Wall Street, as a cheap yen against the dollar supported Japanese exporters. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1 per cent to 25,164.94 in early trade, while the broader Topix index gained 1.2 per cent to 1,720.60.