Singapore stocks open lower on Wednesday; STI down 0.2%

SINGAPORE stocks opened slightly lower on Wednesday, despite overnight gains on Wall Street, where major US stock indices closed at records.

The Straits Times Index (STI) was down 6.28 points or 0.2 per cent to 2,807.84 as at 9.01 am.

Losers outnumbered gainers 60 to 59, after 150.9 million securities worth S$67.7 million changed hands.

ComfortDelGro shares were among the most actively traded in terms of value at the open. Its shares were down 1.2 per cent or S$0.02 to S$1.63, after 3.2 million shares worth S$5.2 million changed hands.

Other active counters in morning trade include Singtel which was down 0.9 per cent or S$0.02 to S$2.34 as at 9.01am.

Shares of mainboard-listed mm2 Asia were trading higher on Wednesday morning, up 5.1 per cent or 0.8 Singapore cent to 16.5 cents as at 9.02am. The owner of Cathay Cineplexes said on Tuesday that it is evaluating a spin-off of its cinema business onto the Singapore Exchange's junior Catalist board.

Top Glove's shares were trading lower on Wednesday morning, down S$ 0.04 or 1.8 per cent to S$2.21 as at 9.04am. Malaysia's government had said on Tuesday it had opened an investigation and would take legal action against Top Glove, after finding that the firm did not comply with standards for worker accommodations.

Over on Wall Street, major US stock indices closed at records again on Tuesday as optimism over potential coronavirus vaccines and revived stimulus talks in Congress offset worries about rising Covid-19 cases.

The broad-based S&P 500 ended at 3,662.45, up 1.1 per cent, topping last week's record. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.3 per cent to finish at 12,355.11, also a record, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.6 per cent to 29,823.92.

Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific, markets were trading higher on Wednesday morning.

Tokyo stocks opened higher, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 index gaining 0.26 per cent or 68.89 points to 26,856.43 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.42 per cent or 7.43 points at 1,775.81.

The ASX 200 in Australia was also up 0.2 per cent to 6,600.10 in morning trade.