Singapore stocks pull back at Wednesday's open; STI down 0.3%

SINGAPORE shares started Wednesday on a softer note as investors traded with caution despite US Treasury yields stabilising. This was in contrast to key regional markets, which started the morning mostly positive.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.3 per cent or 9.01 points to 3,099.52 as at 9.05am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 113 to 59, after 274.9 million securities worth S$200 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was Oceanus, which sank 15.2 per cent or 0.5 Singapore cent to 2.8 cents, with 97.3 million shares changing hands.

Other heavily traded securities include Jiutian Chemical, which gained 2.4 per cent or 0.2 Singapore cent to 8.5 cents, with 10.4 million shares traded, and Sembcorp Marine, which lost 0.6 per cent or 0.1 Singapore cent to 16.3 cents, with 9.5 million shares changing hands.

Banking stocks fell in early trade. DBS dropped 1.3 per cent or S$0.37 to S$28.48, UOB was down 0.2 per cent or S$0.06 to S$25.64, while OCBC declined 0.2 per cent or S$0.02 to S$11.78.

Jardine Strategic Holdings dipped 0.03 per cent or US$0.01 to US$32.80, while Jardine Matheson Holdings slipped 0.3 per cent or US$0.20 to US$65.

Other active index counters include the Singapore Exchange, which moved up 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$9.93, and Singapore Airlines, which fell 0.4 per cent or S$0.02 to S$5.29.

Tech stocks in the US bounced back on Tuesday after a period of weakness, as Congress neared final passage of a US$1.9 trillion economic aid package. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index ended 3.7 per cent higher at 13,073.82. The index has underperformed the Dow in recent sessions as investors steered funds into industrial, banking and other sectors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1 per cent to 31,832.74, while the broad-based S&P 500 advanced 1.4 per cent to 3,985.44.

The visible turn in risk sentiment with the bond rout taking a pause is expected to buoy Asia markets into Wednesday morning, seeing early movers in the region trading largely in green, IG senior market strategist Pan Jingyi told The Business Times on Wednesday.

Tokyo stocks opened higher on Wednesday, supported by rallies on Wall Street. The Nikkei 225 index was up 0.3 per cent at 29,125.07 in early trade, while the Topix index gained 0.1 per cent to 1,918.72.