Singapore stocks open muted on Thursday; STI down 0.1%

SINGAPORE shares dipped slightly in early trade on Thursday (May 4) following confirmation of a 25 basis point Fed rate hike. The Straits Times Index (STI) lost 4.21 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 3,257.8 as at 9.01 am.

Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers slightly at 55 to 42 as 55.3 million securities worth S$62 million were traded.  Seatrium was the most traded stock by volume on Thursday morning, with 17.4 million shares changing hands, although its share price remained unchanged at S$0.13. Index counter Singtel was also actively traded in terms of both volume and value, rising S$0.02 or 0.8 per cent to S$2.59. A day after the controlling Ong family revised its privatisation deal for Lian Beng Group , the counter rose S$0.03 or 4.6 per cent to match the raised offer price of S$0.68 per share in early trade.  

The trio of local banks were mostly down at open. DBS remained flat at S$32.21, while UOB dipped 0.4 per cent or S$0.12 to S$27.94. OCBC shed S$0.06 or 0.5 per cent to S$12.57. 

The US central bank increased its benchmark interest rate from 5 per cent to 5.25 per cent overnight, with all three major US indices dipping at Wednesday’s close. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.8 per cent at 33,414.24, the S&P 500 was down 0.7 per cent to 4,090.75, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.5 per cent lower at 12,025.33.  

European shares took the opposite tack, despite anxiety in the oil and gas sector foreboding a drop in demand from the US. The Stoxx 600 ended up 0.3 per cent at 462.51