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

SINGAPORE stocks opened lower on Thursday (Mar 23), following the US Federal Reserve’s move to hike interest rates by 0.25 per cent, the ninth increase in a year.

As at 9.01 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.6 per cent or 20.1 points to 3,200.88. Losers outnumbered gainers 80 to 35, after 74.4 million securities worth S$59.3 million changed hands. 

The most active counter by volume was Sembcorp Marine , which closed flat at S$0.109 with 38.7 million securities traded. Singtel , another heavily traded counter, was down 1.7 per cent or S$0.04 to S$2.37, with 2.6 million shares traded.

Banking shares were a sea of red in early morning trade. DBS fell 0.2 per cent or S$0.05 to S$33.45, while UOB was down 0.2 per cent or S$0.05 to S$29.45. OCBC fell 1 per cent or S$0.12 to S$12.24.

Other active index counters such as Genting Singapore was down 0.9 per cent or S$0.01 to S$1.08, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust closed flat at S$1.92.

Wall Street stocks slumped on Wednesday as the Fed continued hiking interest rates to fight inflation. The Fed’s relentless rate hikes are among factors blamed for the biggest banking sector meltdown since the 2008 financial crisis.

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The broad-based S&P 500 shed 1.7 per cent to 3,936.97, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.6 per cent lower at 32,030.11. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.6 per cent to close at 11,669.96.

In Europe, stocks edged higher on Wednesday before the Fed announcement, after financial authorities had moved to prevent contagion in the banking sector.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index inched up 0.2 per cent to close at 447.16, helped by banking stocks, following a series of measures to stabilise the sector after the collapse of three US banks and trouble at lender Credit Suisse.