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

SINGAPORE shares opened lower on Wednesday, following a tepid performance on Wall Street overnight.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.3 per cent or 7.97 points to 3,206.46 as at 9.02am.

Advancers outnumbered decliners 60 to 58, after 55.5 million securities worth S$38.2 million changed hands.

Entertainment group mm2 Asia was the most actively traded counter by volume, with 7.7 million shares changing hands as at 9.03am. The counter fell 2.7 per cent or 0.2 Singapore cent to 7.1 cents.

Among index counters, Mapletree Commercial Trust was the top gainer. The real estate investment trust rose 1.4 per cent or S$0.03 to S$2.16 in early trade. Meanwhile, Ascendas Reit was the top loser, with the counter falling 0.6 per cent or S$0.02 to S$3.09.

The trio of local banks were lower in early trade. DBS was down 0.4 per cent or S$0.11 to S$29.19, UOB dipped 0.04 per cent or S$0.01 to S$26.57, while OCBC slipped 0.08 per cent or S$0.01 to S$12.04 as at 9.03am.

Over on Wall Street, stocks closed mostly flat ahead of the conclusion of the Federal Reserve's two-day meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed unchanged at 33,984.93, as did the broad-based S&P 500, which shed less than a point from Monday's record to end at 4,186.72. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.3 per cent to 14,090.22.

Over in Europe, shares ended lower on Tuesday as optimism over strong earnings was offset by Swiss bank UBS disclosing a hit from dealings with US investment firm Archegos. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index slipped 0.1 per cent to 439.85.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Wednesday, mirroring the flat market close on Wall Street. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.4 per cent or 102.24 points to 28,889.65 in early trade, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.1 per cent or 1.75 points to 1,901.80.