Singapore shares fall at Monday’s open; STI down 1.2%

SINGAPORE stocks fell during early trade on Monday (Feb 5), led by declines from the banks.

The Straits Times Index (STI) declined 1.2 per cent or 36.44 points to 3,143.33 as at 9.01 am. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 89 to 46 after 53.6 million securities worth S$91.9 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was Seatrium , which traded flat at S$0.10 with 5.9 million shares transacted. Other heavily traded securities included Golden Agri-Resources, which was also trading flat at S$0.27 with 4.4 million shares changing hands.

Banking stocks fell in early morning trade. DBS was trading down 1.3 per cent or S$0.42 at S$31.80. OCBC declined 1.5 per cent or S$0.20 to S$12.80, while UOB fell 0.8 per cent or S$0.24 to S$28.38.

Shares on Wall Street advanced on Friday as strong earnings outlooks and a blowout January employment report boosted confidence in the US economy, despite the Federal Reserve being less likely to cut interest rates soon. The Dow rose 134.62 points or 0.35 per cent to 38,654.42, the S&P 500 gained 52.42 points or 1.1 per cent to 4,958.61, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 267.35 points or 1.7 per cent to 15,628.95.

European shares were mostly unchanged on Friday, as gains from upbeat corporate earnings offset hotter-than-expected US jobs data. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was flat on the day ending at 483.93, hovering near two-year highs hit earlier in the week.