Singapore stocks open lower on Monday; STI down 0.2%

SINGAPORE stocks were down in early trade on Monday (Jun 20) after a mixed session on Wall Street last Friday.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.2 per cent or 6.88 points to 3,091.21 as at 9.02 am. Losers outnumbered gainers 79 to 58 after 56.3 million securities worth S$69.5 million changed hands.

The top traded counter by volume was Thai Beverage , which fell 1.5 per cent or S$0.01 to S$0.64 with some 2.7 million shares traded in the morning.

Other heavily traded securities include NetLink NBN Trust , which lost 0.5 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.945 with 2.2 million units traded, as well as Watches.com , which slipped 5.6 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.017 with 2 million shares traded.

Index counter Singtel also saw brisk trading with 1.3 million shares changing hands at the market open. It lost S$0.01 or 0.4 per cent to S$2.46.

Amongst the local banks, DBS was up 0.3 per cent or S$0.08 at S$29.97, UOB fell 0.1 per cent or S$0.03 to S$26.80, while OCBC gained 0.1 per cent or S$0.10 to reach S$11.43.

US stocks were mixed on Friday’s closing on investor fears of the growing likelihood of a recession amidst the central bank’s efforts to stamp out inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 38.29 points or 0.1 per cent to 29,888.78, the S&P 500 gained 8.07 points or 0.2 per cent to 3,674.84 and the Nasdaq Composite added 152.25 points or 1.4 per cent to 10,798.35.

Meanwhile, European stocks closed slightly higher on Friday, but posted its third straight week of losses over fears of an incoming economic slowdown.

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The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed Friday’s trading up by 0.1 per cent, but ended the week 4.6 per cent lower.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo shares opened higher on Monday, against fears that interest rate hikes by central banks would lead to global inflation.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.7 per cent or 183.42 points at 26,146.42 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.5 per cent or 9.38 points at 1,845.28.