Singapore stocks open Thursday weaker; STI down 0.3%

SINGAPORE shares started Thursday (Jul 21) on a softer note, despite gains on Wall Street overnight.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 8.96 points or 0.3 per cent to 3,161.33 as at 9.02 am. Advancers outnumbered decliners 51 to 44, after 41.7 million securities worth S$58 million changed hands.

Sembcorp Marine saw the highest trading activity by volume as it slipped 0.9 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.105 as at 9.01 am after 7.2 million shares were traded.

CapAllianz Holdings also saw brisk activity with 2.7 million securities moving in early trade, opening flat at a price of S$0.002.

The most active index counter was Genting Singapore , which rose 0.7 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.775 after 1.4 million shares changed hands.

All 3 Singapore banks opened lower on Thursday. DBS fell S$0.25 or 0.8 per cent to S$30.60, OCBC slipped S$0.07 or 0.6 per cent to S$11.48, while UOB was down S$0.06 or 0.2 per cent to S$27.31.

The US market extended its rally into the second day on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2 per cent to finish at 31,878.20, the broad-based S&P 500 added 0.6 per cent to close at 3,959.95, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.6 per cent to 11,897.65.

In Europe, shares snapped a 3-day winning streak on Wednesday on jitters around Russian gas supplies to the continent, while Italian shares slid amid a political crisis surrounding Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s government.

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The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose as much as 0.5 per cent before erasing gains to end 0.2 per cent lower.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Thursday on profit-taking and ahead of a Bank of Japan policy decision later in the day.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.04 per cent or 11.38 points to 27,668.88, while the broader Topix index fell 0.25 per cent or 4.47 points to 1,941.97.