Singapore shares fall at Thursday’s open, tracking Wall Street retreat; STI down 0.2%

SINGAPORE stocks opened weaker on Thursday (Dec 21), tracking an overnight decline on Wall Street, where most indices ended sharply lower.

On the Singapore bourse, the Straits Times Index (STI) headed down 0.2 per cent or 5.41 points to 3,102.62 as at 9.01 am. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 83 to 34, after 52 million securities worth S$64.8 million changed hands.

One of the most actively traded counters by volume was Seatrium , which lost 0.9 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.109 with 6.3 million shares traded.

Other heavily traded securities included Thai Beverage , which held steady at S$0.50 with five million shares transacted, and Rex International , which shed 1.7 per cent or S$0.003 to S$0.178 with 3.1 million shares changing hands.

Banking stocks started the morning mixed. DBS was trading up 0.2 per cent or S$0.05 at S$31.58, UOB lost 0.2 per cent or S$0.06 to S$27.46, while OCBC remained unchanged at S$12.45.

US stocks halted a weeks-long rally on Wednesday after finishing Wednesday in the red. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.3 per cent to 37,082, while the S&P 500 declined 1.5 per cent to 4,698.35. The Nasdaq Composite Index also closed 1.5 per cent lower to 14,777.94.

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In contrast, European stocks closed higher on Wednesday, after signs of inflation cooling in Britain supported gains for UK stocks. The pan-European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.2 per cent to 477.94, with UK’s blue-chip FTSE 100 index jumping 1 per cent.