Singapore shares decline at Wednesday’s open; STI down 0.4%
Vivienne Tay
SINGAPORE stocks opened weaker on Wednesday (Jan 10) following overnight losses on Wall Street, as weak US trade data weighed on investor sentiment.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI) headed down 0.4 per cent or 11.62 points to 3,186.34 as at 9.02 am. Across the broader market, losers slightly outnumbered gainers 58 to 52, after 47.1 million securities worth S$47.3 million changed hands.
One of the most active counters by volume was Thai Beverage , which lost 0.9 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.535 with 7.6 million shares traded.
Other heavily traded securities included CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust , which was down 1.5 per cent or S$0.03 at S$1.98 with 2.7 million units transacted, as well as Rex International , which added 2.2 per cent or S$0.004 to S$0.184 with two million shares changing hands.
Local banking stocks were mixed in early morning trade. DBS fell 0.8 per cent or S$0.27 to S$32.60, UOB declined 0.5 per cent or S$0.14 to S$28.37, while OCBC inched up 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$12.89.
Wall Street stocks closed lower on Tuesday after newly released US trade data showed a weakening economic outlook. The World Bank also estimated a slowing in global growth to 2.4 per cent from 2.6 per cent last year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.4 per cent to close at 37,525.16, while the broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.2 per cent to 4,756.5. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index, meanwhile, inched up 0.1 per cent to finish at 14,857.71.
European stocks ended Tuesday lower amid rising government bond yields, although healthcare stocks helped curb some of the losses. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.2 per cent lower at 477.26.
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