Singapore shares fall at Friday’s open; STI down 0.6%

SINGAPORE shares struggled to advance at Friday’s (Nov 17) open, as a mixed performance on global stock markets clashed with a better-than-expected performance of the Republic’s October non-oil domestic exports (NODX).

On Friday, data from Enterprise Singapore showed that NODX shrank 3.4 per cent year on year, easing from steeper falls in preceding months. Both electronics and non-electronics exports continued to fall on a year-on-year basis, but less sharply.

On the Singapore bourse, the Straits Times Index (STI) headed down 0.6 per cent or 18.77 points to 3,114.28 as at 9.03 am. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 75 to 49, after 36.5 million securities worth S$48.3 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was Seatrium , which rose 0.9 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.109, with 4.1 million shares traded.

Other heavily traded securities included Rex International , which shed 2.3 per cent or S$0.004 to S$0.168 with 2.2 million shares traded, and UMS , which was down 2.3 per cent or S$0.03 to S$1.25 with two million shares traded.

Banks were mixed in early morning trade. UOB lost 0.9 per cent or S$0.24 to S$27.18, OCBC declined 0.5 per cent or S$0.07 to S$12.91, while DBS added 0.1 per cent or S$0.04 to S$32.68.

Other active index counters included Singtel , which slipped 2.1 per cent or S$0.05 to S$2.33, and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding , which was down 1.4 per cent or S$0.02 to S$1.43.

In the US, major indices started to show signs of fatigue on Thursday, after two days of rallying following economic data that showed moderating inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.1 per cent lower at 34,945.47. The S&P 500 gained 0.1 per cent at 4,508.24, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.1 per cent to 14,113.67.

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Europe’s benchmark finished lower on Thursday, weighed down by energy stocks. The pan-European Stoxx 600 shed 0.7 per cent after gaining 2.5 per cent over the past three days, and hitting a more than one-month high on Wednesday.