Singapore stocks open lower on Thursday; STI down 0.3%

SINGAPORE shares opened slightly weaker on Thursday (Dec 30) amid cautious trading, after the US closed mixed and European equities ended lower.

The Straits Times Index (STI) slipped 0.3 per cent or 8.29 points to 3,129.73 as at 9.03 am.

Losers outnumbered gainers 86 to 46, or about 2 securities down for every 1 up, after 51 million securities worth S$28.4 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was DiSa 532 , which rose 16.7 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.007, with 20.1 million shares changing hands.

Other heavily traded securities include Biolidics 8YY, which gained 11.2 per cent or S$0.02 to S$0.199, with 2.7 million shares traded, and SPH Reit SK6U , which lost 1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$1, with 1.1 million units traded.

Banking stocks fell in early trade. DBS D05 fell 0.3 per cent or S$0.09 to S$32.69, UOB U11 was down 0.2 per cent or S$0.06 at S$26.99, while OCBC O39 slipped 0.3 per cent or S$0.03 to S$11.41.

Other active index counters include Singapore Airlines C6L, which dropped 0.6 per cent or S$0.03 to S$4.98, and Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust A17U , which lost 0.7 per cent or S$0.02 to S$2.95.

In the US, the Dow and S&P 500 closed at all-time highs on Wednesday (Dec 29) following a boost from retailers including Walgreens and Nike. However, the Nasdaq Composite slipped 15.51 points or 0.1 per cent to 15,766.22.

European shares fell on Wednesday, with declines in technology, healthcare and travel stocks leading the selling in thin holiday trade. The pan-European Stoxx 600 slipped 0.1 per cent or 0.52 point to 487.98.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Thursday. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index declined 0.4 per cent to 28,800.74 in early trade, while the broader Topix index also fell 0.4 per cent to 1,991.61.