Singapore shares nearly flat at Friday’s open; STI down 0.04%

SINGAPORE stocks opened muted on Friday (Dec 15) amid a mixed performance among index counters, in contrast with global markets, which finished higher overnight.

The Straits Times Index (STI) headed down 0.04 per cent or 1.1 points to 3,121.85 as at 9.01 am. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 81 to 38, or about two securities up for every one down, after 93.4 million securities worth S$82.7 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was Seatrium , which held steady at S$0.105 with 32.4 million shares traded.

Other heavily traded securities included Rex International , which added 1.2 per cent or S$0.002 to S$0.17 with 3.8 million shares transacted, and Biolidics , which remained unchanged at S$0.015 with 3.6 million shares changing hands.

Banking stocks were mixed in early morning trade. DBS lost 0.3 per cent or S$0.08 to S$31.32, UOB rose 0.3 per cent or S$0.07 to S$27.86, while OCBC declined 0.3 per cent or S$0.04 to S$12.43.

Other active index counters included Singtel , which traded 0.4 per cent or S$0.01 higher at S$2.41, and CapitaLand Ascendas Reit , which shed 1 per cent or S$0.03 to S$2.96.

SEE ALSO

Stocks to watch: ST Engineering, Keppel DC Reit, Manulife US Reit, Dasin Retail Trust

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Wall Street stocks finished higher on Thursday, following solid US retail sales data and central bank moves to hold interest rates steady. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a fresh record, ending 0.4 per cent higher at 37,248.35. The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.3 per cent to 4,719.55, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.2 per cent to 14,761.56.

European shares, meanwhile, finished the session higher. The pan-European index gained 0.9 per cent to 476.57 to hit an over 22-month high.