Singapore stocks little changed at Wednesday's open; STI dips 0.2%

SINGAPORE stocks fell slightly in early trade on Wednesday, amid thin trading despite fresh records on Wall Street.

The Republic has upgraded its trade forecasts for the third time this year, on the back of strong second-quarter growth in sectors such as electronics and petrochemicals, trade agency Enterprise Singapore said in a review before the market opened. Singapore's official growth forecast for 2021 has been upgraded to a range of between 6 and 7 per cent, up from the earlier forecast range of 4 to 6 per cent, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.2 per cent or 7.39 points to 3,199.97 as at 9.03am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 73 to 68 after 74 million securities worth S$58.9 million changed hands.

Healthway Medical Corporation 5NG shares were among the most actively traded securities on Wednesday morning, with 10.8 million shares changing hands as at 9.03am. This came after the healthcare provider after market close on Tuesday posted net profit of S$5.4 million for the six months ended June 30, reversing from a loss of S$544,000 a year ago. The counter jumped 15.2 per cent or 0.5 Singapore cent higher to 3.8 cents on Wednesday, following the announcement.

Another healthcare provider, Thomson Medical Group A50 , was also among the most actively traded counters in terms of volume. The counter was up 4.6 per cent or 0.4 Singapore cent to 9.1 cents, with 14.4 million shares changing hands as at 9.03am.

Communications network specialist Ntegrator International 5HC also saw heavy trading on Wednesday morning, after the company said it was served a letter of statutory demand for S$177,432.06 from its previous sponsor, the lawyers of Asian Corporate Advisors, for alleged fees owed by the company. The counter fell 8.3 per cent or 0.1 Singapore cent to 1.1 cents with 6.9 million shares traded.

The trio of local banks were also trading lower on Wednesday morning. DBS D05 was down 0.2 per cent or S$0.05 to S$31.63, UOB U11 fell 0.7 per cent or S$0.18 to S$26.78, while OCBC O39 slipped 0.6 per cent or S$0.08 to S$12.38 as at 9.03am.

In the US, the Dow and S&P 500 closed at new highs on Tuesday, as Senate passage of a US$1.2 trillion infrastructure package lifted industrial companies and commodities producers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.5 per cent to 35,264.67 and the broad-based S&P 500 increased 0.1 per cent to 4,436.75, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.5 per cent to 14,788.09.

European shares extended gains for a seventh straight session to hit record highs on Tuesday, on the back of strong earnings reports and economic recovery prospects.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index gained 0.4 per cent to an all-time high of 472.95 points.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Wednesday amid thin trade due to the summer holidays.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.7 per cent or 182.94 points to 28,071.09, while the broader Topix index also gained 0.7 per cent or 12.78 points to 1,949.06.