Singapore shares fall at Wednesday’s open; STI down 0.3%

SINGAPORE stocks opened weaker on Wednesday (Oct 18), led by declines in banking stocks and index counters, after global markets finished muted on Tuesday.

The Straits Times Index (STI) headed down 0.3 per cent or 10.33 points to 3,161.5 as at 9.02 am. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 74 to 40, after 24.9 million securities worth S$44.4 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was CDL Hospitality Trusts , which lost 1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$1 with 2.3 million shares traded.

Other heavily traded securities included CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, which fell 0.6 per cent or S$0.01 to S$1.81 with 1.6 million shares transacted, and CapitaLand Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust , which declined 1.5 per cent or S$0.04 to S$2.67 with 1.2 million shares changing hands.

Banking stocks started the morning in the red. DBS was down 0.3 per cent or S$0.09 at S$33.36, UOB traded 0.1 per cent or S$0.03 lower at S$28.27, while OCBC slipped 0.3 per cent or S$0.04 to S$13.03.

Other active index counters included Hongkong Land , which dropped 1.4 per cent or US$0.05 to US$3.45, and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust , which was trading 1.5 per cent or S$0.02 lower at S$1.36.

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US stocks finished mostly flat on Tuesday, following stronger-than-expected retail sales data and company earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended flat at 33,997.65, the S&P 500 held steady at 4,373.2, while the Nasdaq Composite closed 0.3 per cent higher at 13,533.75.

European stocks, meanwhile, slid on Tuesday as company earnings disappointed. Higher government bond yields also outweighed gains in energy shares and easing concerns over the Middle East conflict. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index lost 0.1 per cent to 449.76.