Singapore stocks mirror global retreat on Tuesday; STI down 0.1%

SINGAPORE stocks opened weaker on Tuesday (Dec 5) following overnight losses on global markets.

Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI) headed down 0.1 per cent or 3.21 points to 3,080.87 as at 9.02 am. Losers outnumbered gainers 64 to 55 after 19.5 million securities worth S$29 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was Seatrium , which held steady at S$0.103 with 2.3 million shares changing hands. Other heavily traded securities included Genting Singapore , which rose 0.5 per cent, or S$0.005, to S$0.925 after 1.5 million shares traded, as well as Rex International Holdings , which remained unchanged at S$0.166, with 1.4 million shares transacted.

Banking stocks traded mixed on Tuesday morning. DBS gained 0.1 per cent or S$0.02 to S$31.72, while OCBC advanced 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$12.63. UOB lost 0.2 per cent or S$0.04 to S$27.21.

US stocks sank after a buoyant November ahead of key employment data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1 per cent to 36,204.44. The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.5 per cent to 4,569.78, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.8 per cent to 14,185.49.

Over in Europe, weak commodity prices hurt miners and energy stocks, dragging the pan-European Stoxx 600 down 0.1 per cent.