Singapore shares retreat at Friday’s open; STI down 1%

SINGAPORE stocks started trading in negative territory on Friday (Aug 2), mirroring losses in the global market overnight.

As at 9.01 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) opened 1 per cent or 32.73 points lower at 3,387.11. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 107 to 28 after 59.8 million securities worth S$106.8 million changed hands.

The most actively traded counter by volume was Seatrium , which lost 3 per cent or S$0.05 to S$1.63, with 4.6 million shares changing hands.

Other heavily traded securities included CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust , which fell 0.9 per cent or S$0.02 to S$2.12. Units of Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust declined 0.8 per cent or S$0.01 to S$1.20.

Banking stocks were trading down at the open. DBS tumbled 1.6 per cent or S$0.58 to S$35.40. OCBC shed 0.5 per cent or S$0.08 to S$14.74. UOB decreased 0.4 per cent or S$0.13 to S$31.91.

Wall Street stocks fell on Thursday after weak manufacturing data raised concerns about the US economy.

SEE ALSO

Stocks to watch: OCBC, Jardine Matheson, Jardine C&C, Hongkong Land, Seatrium

Asean Intelligence

Get insights into businesses across South-east Asia

Get the free report

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 1.2 per cent at 40,347.97. The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 1.4 per cent to 5,446.68, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 2.3 per cent to 17,194.14.

In Europe, shares slid as banks led the sell-off after Societe Generale cut a key target for its French retail division and the Bank of England lowered interest rates. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index finished down 1.2 per cent at 511.83.