Singapore stocks open lower on Monday; STI down 0.1%

SINGAPORE shares fell in early trade on Monday, after Wall Street ended lower as markets weighed another round of mostly strong earnings against concerns about rising supply chain and commodity costs.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.1 per cent or 1.52 points to 3,216.75 as at 9.01am.

Losers outnumbered gainers 71 to 58, after 60.2 million securities worth S$49.2 million changed hands.

Sembcorp Marine was the most actively traded counter by volume, with 5.5 million shares worth S$1.1 million changing hands as at 9.01am. Its shares were trading flat at 21 Singapore cents at the time.

Mercurius also saw brisk trading, with four million shares changing hands. The counter was trading 7.8 per cent or 0.5 Singapore cent lower at 5.9 cents.

The trio of local banks were mixed in early trade. DBS gained 0.03 per cent or S$0.01 to S$29.92, UOB advanced 1 per cent or S$0.02 to S$26.61, while OCBC slipped 0.3 per cent or S$0.03 to S$12.17 as at 9.01am.

Over on Wall Street, stocks retreated from record highs on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 0.5 per cent lower at 33,874.85, the S&P 500 shed 0.7 per cent to 4,181.17, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.9 per cent to 13,962.68.

European shares also ended lower on Friday. The pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 0.3 per cent to end at 437.39, hovering below its all-time high and ending April 1.8 per cent higher.

Elsewhere in Asia, financial markets in Japan are closed on Monday and Tuesday.