Singapore stocks open lower on Thursday; STI down 0.5%

SINGAPORE shares fell on Thursday (Apr 27) morning, following hikes in Additional Buyer Stamp Duty (ABSD) rates for residential properties.

As at 9.02 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.5 per cent or 16.96 points to 3,276.95. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 79 to 45 after 101.5 million securities worth S$64.5 million changed hands.

In a fresh round of cooling measures aimed at curbing investment demand, the Singapore government has increased ABSD rates for residential properties.

Sembcorp Marine was the top-traded counter in terms of volume, decreasing 0.8 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.121 after 49.7 million securities changed hands.

Other heavily traded securities included Keppel Infrastructure Trust, with 4.3 million shares transacted. The counter remained flat at S$0.495. Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust fell 0.7 per cent or S$0.01 to S$1.39.

Index counter Singtel rose 0.8 per cent or S$0.02 to S$2.51.

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The three local banks were in the red. UOB fell 0.7 per cent or S$0.19 to S$29.07. DBS dropped 0.4 per cent or S$0.14 to S$32.56, while OCBC slipped 0.3 per cent or S$0.04 to S$12.56.

Major US indices finished mostly lower on Wednesday amid recession worries. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.7 per cent to 33,301.87. The broad-based S&P 500 declined 0.4 per cent to 4,055.99, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.5 per cent to 11,854.35.

In Europe, shares closed lower for the second straight session on Wednesday, weighed down by a slide in healthcare stocks. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 0.8 per cent to 463.21, with healthcare stocks tumbling 2.5 per cent, clocking its worst performance since January 2022.