Singapore stocks fall at Friday’s open after key economic updates; STI down 0.7%
Michelle Zhu
SINGAPORE shares opened lower on Friday (Oct 13), following news that Singapore’s economy grew 0.7 per cent on year for the third quarter of 2023.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore also announced ahead of trading hours that it left monetary policy settings unchanged in October, though it intends to shift to a quarterly monetary policy statement schedule from 2024.
As at 9.01 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) was down 0.7 per cent or 23.47 points to 3,195.22. Losers outnumbered gainers 79 to 23 after 34.6 million securities worth S$53.5 million changed hands.
The most active counter by volume was Thai Beverage, which gained 0.9 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.555 with 5.9 million shares transacted.
Index counters Singtel and Genting Singapore were briskly traded as well. The telecommunications provider fell 1.7 per cent or S$0.04 to S$2.39; the integrated resort operator shed 0.6 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.845.
The trio of local banks fell in early trade. UOB fell 0.8 per cent or S$0.23 to S$28.46. DBS lost 0.7 per cent or S$0.22 to S$33.78, while OCBC was down 0.6 per cent or S$0.08 to S$13.
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Wall Street equities ended Thursday in negative territory, after a steady inflation print fuelled concerns that interest rates would need to stay higher for longer.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.5 per cent lower at 33,631.14. The broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.6 per cent to 4,349.61, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slipped by the same amount to end the trading day at 13,574.22.
In Europe, stocks pared early gains on Thursday after earlier hitting a three-week-high.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed up 0.1 per cent at 453.63.
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