Singapore stocks open lower on Tuesday; STI down 0.1%

SINGAPORE shares opened slightly lower on Tuesday, amid declines in the region and mixed trading overnight on Wall Street.

The Straits Times Index (STI) dipped 0.1 per cent or 2.1 points to 2,823.41 as at 9.01am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 70 to 47, with 47.2 million securities worth S$39.3 million changing hands.

The top decliner among index stocks was Sembcorp Industries, which fell 3.4 per cent or S$0.06 to S$1.73 as at 9.05am, extending the 3.2 per cent decline on Monday. The company said on Monday it expects to incur a loss for the full year ending Dec 31, 2020, as a result of S$89 million in impairments, net of tax, recorded in the second half of 2020.

Singtel shares were among the most actively traded securities, with 2.1 million shares worth S$5.1 million changing hands as at 9.01am. The counter was up S$0.03 or 1.3 per cent at S$2.44.

S&P Global Ratings on Monday revised its outlook for Singtel from "stable" to "negative", to reflect the telco's deteriorating leverage, but affirmed its "A" long-term and "A-1" short-term issuer credit ratings on the company.

Shares of Singapore Airlines were also active in terms of value traded on Tuesday, with the counter rising S$0.04 or 0.9 per cent to S$4.42. The airline announced on Monday that it has signed a commercial cooperation framework agreement with its Indian joint-venture partner Vistara that will build on an existing partnership between the two carriers.

The trio of local banks were trading mixed in early trade. DBS was down 0.8 per cent or S$0.19 at S$25.07, UOB fell 0.6 per cent or S$0.13 to S$22.54, but OCBC edged up 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$9.99 as at 9.01am.

Over on Wall Street, the major indices closed mixed on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 148.47 points or 0.5 per cent to 30,069.79, the broad-based S&P 500 lost 7.16 points or 0.2 per cent to close at 3,691.96, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite added 55.71 points or 0.5 per cent to 12,519.95.

The Nasdaq closed at a record high after investors moved into mega-cap growth stocks even as a new round of Covid-19 restrictions underscored the continuing economic impact of the pandemic on the United States.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets were trading lower. Tokyo stocks opened lower on Tuesday, tracking declines on Wall Street as investors monitored the prospects for additional US stimulus spending and kept their eye on Brexit talks. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.6 per cent or 168.21 points at 26,379.23 in early trade, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.4 per cent or 7.60 points to 1,753.15. Meanwhile, South Korea's Kospi fell 0.3 per cent to 2,736.61.