Singapore shares retreat at Thursday’s open; STI down 0.2%
Vivienne Tay
SINGAPORE stocks slipped in the first few minutes of trade on Thursday (Jan 25), led by declines by real estate investment trusts and other index counters as investors await a slew of earnings in the coming weeks.
The benchmark Straits Times Index headed down 0.2 per cent or 4.79 points to 3,148.54 as at 9.03 am. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 67 to 48, after 33.9 million securities worth S$36 million changed hands.
The most active counter by volume was Thai Beverage Public Company, which held steady at S$0.52 with 3.3 million shares traded.
Other heavily traded securities included Rex International , which lost 1.2 per cent or S$0.002 to S$0.165 in early trade with three million shares changing hands, and Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT), which fell 1.2 per cent or S$0.02 to S$1.61 with 2.5 million shares traded.
MLT on Wednesday posted a 1.2 per cent rise in distribution per unit to S$0.02253 for its third quarter ended Dec 31, 2023. Higher contributions from existing properties in Singapore and acquisitions in overseas markets clashed with slight increases in property expenses, weaker regional currencies and high borrowing costs.
Banking stocks were mixed in early morning trade. DBS was trading up 0.3 per cent or S$0.10 to S$31.94, while UOB shed 0.1 per cent or S$0.04 to S$27.86, and OCBC slipped 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$12.89.
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Other active index counters included Mapletree Industrial Trust , which lost 1.2 per cent or S$0.03 to S$2.44, and CapitaLand Ascendas Reit , which was down 1 per cent or S$0.03 to S$2.94.
Global stock markets rallied overnight, led by gains from the technology sector.
Wall Street’s S&P 500 reached a record high at open, supported by Netflix after the streaming giant beat expectations for subscriber growth. Chip stocks also jumped following strong earnings from ASML.
The index later closed the trading day 0.1 per cent higher at 4,868.55. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, lost 0.3 per cent to 37,806.39, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.4 per cent to 15,481.92.
In Europe, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed up 1.2 per cent, hitting a one-week high.
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