Singapore stocks open lower on Friday; STI down 0.2%

SINGAPORE shares dipped at the opening bell on Friday, pulling back slightly from Thursday's close at 3,000 points, a record high since March last year.

This comes as incoming US president Joe Biden unveiled a US$1.9 trillion stimulus plan designed to jump-start the US economy and accelerate the country's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Details of the aid package were released on Thursday and include some US$1 trillion in direct relief to households, US$415 billion to bolster the response to the crisis and the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines, and roughly US$440 billion for small businesses and communities particularly hard hit by the pandemic.

The Straits Times Index (STI) declined 6.06 points or 0.2 per cent to 2,993.94 as at 9.01am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 84 to 39 after 140.8 million securities worth S$89.7 million changed hands.

Among index counters, the most heavily traded by volume was Singtel, which was S$0.02 or 0.8 per cent lower at S$2.49 with some 2.6 million shares traded as at 9.02am. ThaiBev added 0.5 Singapore cent or 0.7 per cent to 77 cents with 2.1 million shares changing hands.

The trio of local lenders were down in early trade. DBS shed S$0.13 or 0.5 per cent to S$26.86, UOB dipped S$0.10 or 0.4 per cent to S$23.78, while OCBC was S$0.06 or 0.6 per cent lower at S$10.67.

Other active stocks include Sembcorp Marine, which was flat at 16.9 Singapore cents as at 9.02am with 2.4 million shares traded.

Wall Street finished a choppy session on Thursday modestly lower after digesting disappointing US labour data, which showed applications for unemployment benefits rose sharply in the first week of 2021.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 30,991.52, down 0.2 per cent, the broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.4 per cent to 3,795.54, while the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.1 per cent to 13,112.64.

In Europe, shares rose for a third straight session on Thursday as a jump in technology stocks, hopes for a large stimulus under Mr Biden, and upbeat Chinese export data boosted sentiment.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.7 per cent, hitting new highs since February 2020, with mining, auto and travel stocks among the top performers.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Friday to extend gains in the previous session. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index advanced 0.2 per cent or 69.83 points to 28,768.09 in early trade, while the broader Topix index put on 0.1 per cent or 2.36 points to 1,875.64.