Singapore stocks slide at Friday's open; STI down 0.1%

SINGAPORE stocks opened lower on Friday morning, mirroring the lower market close on Wall Street.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.1 per cent or 3.95 points to 3,133.71 as at 9.01 am. Decliners outnumbered gainers 81 to 54 after 100.3 million securities worth S$101.4 million changed hands.

Matex International shares were the most actively traded securities by volume, with 19.9 million shares being traded within the first five minutes of the open. The counter rose 67.9 per cent or 1.9 Singapore cents to 4.7 cents.

Addvalue Technologies shares were also among the most actively traded securities by volume, with 13.4 million shares traded as at 9.05am. The counter rose 10 per cent or 0.2 Singapore cent to 2.2 cents.

Among index counters, ST Engineering was the top gainer, rising 1 per cent or S$0.04 to S$3.87 as at 9.05am. On the other hand, Mapletree Industrial Trust was the top loser as it fell 2.2 per cent or S$0.06 to S$2.66.

The trio of local banks were trading higher on Friday morning. DBS was up 0.1 per cent or S$0.04 to S$28.42. UOB rose 0.5 per cent or S$0.13 to S$25.74 and OCBC inched up 0.4 per cent or S$0.05 to S$11.65 as at 9.05am.

Over on Wall Street, stock markets fell sharply at market close amid rising Treasury yields and increased worries about the pandemic in Europe.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5 per cent to end at 32,862.3 points, while the S&P 500 lost 1.5 per cent to 3,915.47. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 3 per cent to 13,116.17.

European shares climbed to an all-time high at market close after the US Federal Reserve announced to keep interest rates low despite forecasting a surge in economic growth. The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 0.4 per cent, but eased from early highs due to losses in utilities, chemicals, and food and beverage stocks.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.9 per cent or 280.86 points at 29,935.89 in early trade, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.69 per cent or 13.84 points to 1,994.67.