Singapore stocks open lower on Friday; STI down 0.4%

SINGAPORE stocks fell at the opening bell on Friday (May 12) after Wall Street equities ended mixed overnight.

As at 9.01 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) dropped 12.14 points or 0.4 per cent to 3,217.41. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 68 to 49 as 92 million securities worth S$86.7 million changed hands.

Thai Beverage was the most actively traded stock by volume on Friday morning, with 26.9 million securities being transacted. Its share price was down S$0.02 or 3.3 per cent to S$0.58 at the open. 

This comes after the beverage giant on Thursday announced a 3.4 per cent rise in net profit to 7.4 billion baht (S$289.6 million) for the second quarter ended Mar 31, 2023. 

Another stock that was briskly traded was Seatrium , which gained S$0.002 or 1.6 per cent to S$0.128 after 21.1 million shares were traded. Prior to the market opening, the offshore and marine engineering company said its net order book in the year-to-date exceeded S$20 billion. 

The Place Holdings climbed S$0.001, or 10 per cent, to S$0.011 after a day of heaving trading on Thursday. 

The trio of local banks opened mixed. DBS was down S$0.30 or 1 per cent to S$30.80, and UOB was down S$0.01 or 0.04 per cent to S$29.97. OCBC , however, was up S$0.02 or 0.2 per cent to S$12.32. 

US stocks saw mixed trading on Thursday, as investors remain concerned over regional banks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.7 per cent at 33,309.84, and the S&P 500 closed 0.2 per cent lower at 4,130.57. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index, however, edged up 0.2 per cent to 12,328.51.

SEE ALSO

Stocks to watch: Seatrium, Thai Beverage, OCBC, First Resources, StarHub, AEM, Bumitama Agri

European stocks ended trading on Thursday unchanged, as a decline in the prices of energy stocks offset an earlier rise.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed flat at 463.62, after rising as much as 0.7 per cent earlier in the day.