Singapore stocks open lower on Wednesday; STI down 0.1%

SINGAPORE stocks started Wednesday (Jul 12) on a softer note despite overnight gains on the global market.

Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI) headed down 0.1 per cent or 4.10 points to 3,159.74 as at 9.02 am.

Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 68 to 41 after 63.7 million securities worth S$65.7 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was Seatrium , which registered a gain of 0.8 per cent, or S$0.001, at S$0.133 with 10.7 million shares changing hands.

Other heavily traded securities included Yangzijiang Shipbuilding , which remained unchanged at S$1.48, with 6.3 million shares transacted, and Genting Singapore , which lost 1.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$0.93 with 4.9 million shares traded.

Banking stocks all lost in early morning trade. DBS was trading down 0.1 per cent or S$0.04 at S$30.97. UOB lost 0.1 per cent or S$0.03 to S$27.21, and OCBC lost 0.4 per cent or S$0.05 to S$12.08.

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US stocks edged up for a second straight session as investors positioned for favourable inflation data to be released on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.9 per cent at 34,261.42. The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.7 per cent to 4,439.26, and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.6 per cent to 13,760.70.

European stocks also ended higher as investors ramped up hopes of approaching the end of the Federal Reserve’s hiking cycle and China extended policy measures to support its real estate sector. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index gained 0.7 per cent, rising for the third straight session.