Singapore stocks open lower on Tuesday; STI down 0.5%

SINGAPORE shares opened lower on Tuesday, amid a largely weaker set of second-quarter results from corporates, and concerns over growing protectionist calls in the Republic.

On Monday, Member of Parliament Patrick Tay called for the minimum qualifying salary for Employment Pass holders in the infocomm technology and professional services sectors to be raised further, similar to the move made for the finance sector last week.

On the Singapore bourse, the Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.5 per cent or 12.33 points to 2,520.18 as at 9.04am.

Losers outnumbered gainers 81 to 60, after 87.7 million securities worth S$54 million changed hands.

One of the most active counters by volume was Genting Singapore, which fell 0.7 per cent or 0.5 Singapore cent to 69.5 cents with 3.1 million shares changing hands.

Other heavily traded securities include Rex International, which fell 0.6 per cent or 0.1 Singapore cent to 16.5 cents with 2.9 million shares traded, and Sembcorp Marine, which held steady at 20.5 Singapore cents with 2.5 million shares changing hands.

Banking stocks fell in early trade. DBS dropped 0.5 per cent or S$0.11 to S$20.76, UOB was down 0.6 per cent or S$0.12 to S$19.44, while OCBC declined 0.5 per cent or S$0.04 to S$8.63.

On Monday, preliminary data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore showed that bank lending extended its slide for the fifth straight month in July, dipping 0.2 per cent to S$678.7 billion from the previous month on general weakness in business loans.

Other active index counters include Wilmar International, which advanced 0.5 per cent or S$0.02 to S$4.38, and Singapore Airlines, which declined 0.6 per cent or S$0.02 to S$3.63.

In the US, Wall Street saw a mixed session on Monday. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.7 per cent to close at 11,775.46, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.8 per cent to end the day at 28,430.05, but still enjoyed its best August since 1984. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 retreated from its latest record, dipping 0.2 per cent to finish the month at 3,500.31 in its best August showing since 1986.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Tuesday on a strong yen against the dollar, with investors digesting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plan to resign, and the race to succeed him. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.2 per cent to 23,104.42 in early trade, while the Topix index slipped 0.3 per cent to 1,613.35.