Singapore stocks fall at Thursday’s open; STI down 0.1%

SINGAPORE shares were pulled into negative territory at Thursday’s (Jan 19) open, following a depressing session on Wall Street a day earlier.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 2.85 points or 0.1 per cent to 3,286.7 points after 54 million shares worth S$58.1 million changed hands as at 9.02 am. Losers outnumbered gainers 69 to 49.

ThaiBev was the most actively traded counter in terms of volume, with 4.9 million shares changing hands. It rose 0.7 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.71.

Another index counter Genting Singapore dipped 1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$0.975, with 4.8 million shares changing hands.

Mapletree Logistics Trust traded flat at S$1.61 with 1.5 million units changing hands.

Shares of mainboard-listed Sats dipped 0.7 per cent or S$0.02 to S$2.92 as at 9.10 am and 143,600 shares were traded. This came after shareholders of the inflight caterer and ground handler voted in favour of the acquisition of air cargo handler Worldwide Flight Services on Wednesday.

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Activity for the trio of local banks slowed, with UOB and OCBC both trading flat at S$29.33 and S$12.69 respectively. DBS dipped 0.2 per cent or S$0.08 to S$34.95.

Following a buoyant start in 2023, US stocks finished sharply lower on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.8 per cent or nearly 615 points to 33,297.02. The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 1.6 per cent to 3,928.86, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite index fell 1.2 per cent to 10,957.01.

On the other hand, European shares continued their winning streak, with the Stoxx 600 rising 0.2 per cent, extending its gains for a sixth straight day.