Singapore shares dip slightly at Wednesday’s open; STI down 0.1%

SINGAPORE shares were down on Wednesday (Jan 4) morning, following Wall Street’s losses the day before.

The Straits Times Index (STI) shed four points or 0.1 per cent to 3,241.8 points after 36.4 million securities worth S$62 million changed hands as at 9.01 am. Losers outnumbered gainers 67 to 43.

Quantum Health was the top-traded counter in terms of volume. Its shares fell 16.7 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.005 as 2.6 million shares were traded.

CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust was also heavily traded in the morning, slipping 1.5 per cent or S$0.03 to S$2 as at 9 am. Around 1.4 million securities changed hands.

Among index counters, both Genting Singapore and Singtel were briskly traded. Both registered a decline of S$0.01, to S$0.94 for Genting Sing and S$2.54 for Singtel. About 2.2 million Genting Sing shares changed hands in the morning, while 1.1 million Singtel securities were traded as at 9 am.

Local banks opened on a surprisingly positive note on Wednesday, despite declines in many Singapore Exchange-listed counters. UOB opened flat at S$30.70, DBS gained 0.1 per cent or S$0.03 to S$33.91, while OCBC rose 0.3 per cent or S$0.04 to S$12.28 as at 9.01 am.

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In the US, stocks closed lower on Tuesday as investors remained wary of a recession and more rate hikes to come.

Despite a bounce at the start of the trading session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended flat at 33,136.37. The broad-based S&P 500 slumped 0.4 per cent to 3,824.14, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.8 per cent to 10,386.98.

Contrary to the US markets, European shares rose before the day ended, with large-cap pharmaceutical companies boosting the main Stoxx 600 index. The pan-regional Stoxx 600 rose 1.2 per cent, closing at its highest level in nearly three weeks.