Singapore stocks flat at Tuesday's open; STI up 0.02%

SINGAPORE shares were barely changed at the open on Tuesday (Dec 14) as markets weighed lingering worries over the Omicron variant.

The Straits Times Index (STI) moved up 0.02 per cent or 0.49 point to 3,120.44 as at 9.04 am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 58 to 56, after 61.7 million securities worth S$48.3 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was IT service management company SinoCloud Group 5EK , which was flat at S$0.001 after about 14.8 million shares were traded.

Animal aquaculture company Oceanus Group 579 was unchanged at S$0.032 after 5.2 million shares changing hands.

Index counter Capitaland Integrated Commercial Trust C38U was among the most actively traded securities on Tuesday morning, with about 2.4 million units traded. The counter opened lower at S$2.02, down S$0.02 or 1 per cent.

The trio of local banks were mixed at the open. As at 9.03 am, DBS D05 slipped S$0.11 or 0.4 per cent to S$31.73, while UOB U11 was up S$0.14 or 0.5 per cent at S$26.69 and OCBC O39 gained S$0.05 or 0.4 per cent to S$11.35.

Over on Wall Street, US stocks fell on Monday (Dec 13) ahead of key decisions by the Federal Reserve and other central banks.

The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.9 per cent to 4,668.97. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.4 per cent to end at 15,413.28, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.9 per cent at 35,650.95.

Meanwhile, European stocks ended lower on Dec 13 - led by travel and energy stocks - over rising Omicron variant risks.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index erased early session gains to end 0.4 per cent lower at 473.53, marking its fourth consecutive day in the red.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Tuesday, extending falls on Wall Street.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.3 per cent or 75.61 points at 28,564.88 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was barely changed, losing 0.23 point to 1,977.90.