Singapore shares fall at open; STI down 0.4%

SINGAPORE stocks declined on Wednesday (Aug 23) after global markets ended Tuesday mixed.

On the Singapore bourse, the Straits Times Index (STI) headed down 0.4 per cent or 10.92 points to 3,148.96 as at 9.01 am. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 57 to 31 after 22.6 million securities worth S$47.2 million changed hands.

The most actively traded counter by volume was Seatrium , with 2.3 million of its securities traded and share price unchanged at S$0.135. 

Other counters that were heavily traded included Genting Singapore , which gained 0.6 per cent, or S$0.005, to S$0.91 after two million of its securities changed hands.

The index counter Thai Beverage remained flat at S$0.585 with 947,200 of its securities transacted. 

The trio of local banks fell in early trade. DBS dropped S$0.17 or 0.5 per cent to S$32.49, UOB dipped S$0.13 or 0.5 per cent to S$27.71, and OCBC was down by S$0.05 or 0.4 per cent to trade at S$12.20.

Wall Street stocks lodged mixed results on Tuesday amid worries that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 174.86 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 34,288.83, while the broad-based S&P 500 lost 12.22 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 4,387.55.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 8.28 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 13,505.87.

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The European market continued to rebound on Tuesday as chipmakers led a rally in technology stocks ahead of Nvidia’s earnings. Ubisoft also touched a three-week high on Call of Duty maker Activision’s plans to sell streaming rights to it.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed up 0.7 per cent, or 3.04 points, to 451.70, marking its second day of advancing.