Singapore shares retreat at Tuesday’s open; STI down 0.3%

SINGAPORE stocks opened weaker on Tuesday (Dec 19) following a mixed performance in the US and Europe overnight.

On the Singapore bourse, the Straits Times Index headed down 0.3 per cent or 8.46 points to 3,104.77 as at 9.01 am. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 57 to 46, after 62.1 million securities worth S$49.8 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was Seatrium , which held steady at S$0.108 with 37 million shares traded.

Other heavily traded securities included Thai Beverage , which was flat at S$0.505 with 2.5 million shares traded, and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding , which remained unchanged at S$1.44 with 1.6 million shares traded.

Banking stocks were mixed in early morning trade. DBS was trading 0.2 per cent or S$0.05 higher at S$31.55, UOB retreated 0.5 per cent or S$0.15 to reach S$27.59, while OCBC dropped 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$12.49.

In the US, stocks finished mostly higher on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed flat at 37,306.02, while the broad-based S&P 500 Index added 0.5 per cent to 4,740.56. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index, meanwhile, gained 0.6 per cent to end at 14,904.81.

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European stocks fell on Monday weighed down by auto shares, after notching up strong gains in recent weeks. Comments from central bank officials also tempered bets of early interest rate cuts next year. The pan-European Stoxx 600 edged 0.3 per cent lower.