Singapore shares open lower Wednesday; STI down 0.1%

SINGAPORE stocks registered a mild decline on Wednesday (Dec 28), amid mixed trading in the US as Wall Street anticipates additional central bank interest rate hikes.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.1 per cent or 3.66 points to 3,262.72 as at 9.02 am. Gainers outnumbered losers 72 to 49 after 27.8 million shares worth S$24.8 million changed hands.

The Place Holdings was the most actively traded counter by volume at the open, with 3.5 million shares trading hands and gaining 4.2 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.025. Keppel Infrastructure Trust was the runner-up by volume with 2.5 million shares traded, but remained flat at S$0.54.

Meanwhile, shares of mainboard-listed Top Glove saw active trading as well, with 1.4 million shares changing hands and gaining 3.6 per cent or S$0.01 to S$0.29 as at 9.02 am. This comes after the glovemaker’s share price recorded its highest peak since Dec 1.

The trio of local banks were mixed in early trade. DBS fell 0.6 per cent or S$0.19 to S$34.11, and UOB dipped 0.3 per cent or S$0.09 to S$30.84. OCBC , meanwhile, rose 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$12.34 as at 9.02 am.

Wall Street stocks mostly fell on Tuesday in anticipation of more central bank interest rate hikes.

Tuesday’s session is part of the so-called “Santa Claus rally” period, a seven-session stretch over the weeks of Christmas and New Year, which typically sees stocks drifting higher amid light trading volumes.

But US markets were in the red most of the day.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.4 per cent to 10,353.23. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1 per cent at 33,241.56, while the broad-based S&P 500 lost 0.4 per cent at 3,829.25.

In contrast, shares in Europe closed a touch higher on Tuesday as China relaxing its Covid-19 curbs more raised hopes of a recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index gained 0.1 per cent, kicking off a holiday-shortened week in the black.