Singapore shares fall at Friday’s open as banks pull back; STI down 0.3%

SINGAPORE stocks fell during early trading on Friday (Nov 24), led by declines from the banks. US markets were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Straits Times Index (STI) headed down 0.3 per cent or 9.84 points to 3,105.08 as at 9.31 am. Across the broader market, gainers and losers were about evenly matched at 108 to 109, after 89.7 million securities worth S$66.2 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was Biolidics , which climbed 15.4 per cent or S$0.002 to S$0.015 with 4.1 million shares traded as at 9.02 am.

Other heavily traded securities included Yangzijiang Financial , which shed 1.5 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.325, and Keppel Infrastructure Trust , which held steady at S$0.47 with 1.1 million shares traded.

Banking stocks fell minutes after the market opened. DBS was down 0.5 per cent or S$0.15 to S$31.80, UOB lost 0.4 per cent or S$0.10 to S$27.27, and OCBC declined 0.6 per cent or S$0.07 to S$12.71 as at 9.02 am.

Other active index counters included Singtel , which slipped 0.4 per cent or S$0.01 to S$2.27, and City Developments Ltd , which was up 0.5 per cent or S$0.03 to S$6.24 as at 9.02 am. On Thursday, the property group and its joint-venture associates posted higher third-quarter sales of S$325 million from S$281 million in the year-ago period.

SEE ALSO

Stocks to watch: CDL, LHN, Dasin Retail Trust, Clearbridge Health, Biolidics, NauticAWT

In Europe, shares finished higher on Thursday, led by gains from energy stocks. The pan-European Stoxx 600 added 0.3 per cent, extending gains to notch a fresh two-month high.