Singapore stocks open lower on Monday; STI down 0.6%

SINGAPORE shares continued their decline on Monday morning from the week before.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) slipped 0.6 per cent or 13.92 points to 2,515.90 as at 9.10am. Gainers outnumbered losers 104 to 81, after 139.3 million securities worth S$218.3 million changed hands.

Among the most active counters by volume was Genting Singapore, which fell 2 per cent or 1.5 Singapore cents to 72 cents, with six million shares traded. On Friday, the mainboard-listed casino operator named surveyor Winston Hauw Sze Shiung to its board.

Other heavily traded securities include Singapore Telecommunications, which rose 0.8 per cent or S$0.02 to S$2.50 with 5.4 million shares traded, and Thai Beverage Public Co, which was trading flat at S$0.64, with 3.8 million shares changing hands as at 9.10am.

The trio of local banks put in a mixed showing in early trade. DBS sank 0.7 per cent or S$0.14 to S$19.63, while United Overseas Bank lost 1.4 per cent or S$0.28 to S$19.11. OCBC Bank was trading flat at S$8.56.

Analysts last week said net profit is widely expected to come down for Singapore banks in the second quarter, with growing pressure as well to pull back on dividend payouts amid the regulator's call to shore up capital.

Other active index counters include the Singapore Exchange, which gained 2 per cent or S$0.16 to S$8.33. The bourse operator on Thursday evening surprised with a proposed final quarterly dividend of eight cents per share, up from 7.5 cents a year ago, on a strong set of results.

Keppel Corporation lost 2.3 per cent or S$0.23 to S$5.17. Over the weekend, the Temasek Holdings unit that last October made a voluntary pre-conditional partial offer for Keppel said it will decide by end-August whether to invoke the material adverse change pre-condition based on Keppel's second-quarter results.

Singapore Airlines lost 2.3 per cent or S$0.08 to S$3.34. The airline has implemented more measures to slash costs after posting a record quarterly loss, including deeper pay cuts for the bosses, a 10 per cent salary reduction for other employees, and early retirement for pilots and ground staff.

In the US, Wall Street stocks finished a choppy session higher Friday after large tech companies reported strong earnings, and Washington policymakers haggled over another round of fiscal support.

European stocks posted their first monthly decline on Friday since a market sell-off in March as growing doubts over a global recovery from the coronavirus crisis overshadowed a batch of strong earnings from technology firms.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Monday as investors took heart from rallies on Wall Street and a cheap yen against the dollar.