Singapore shares decline at open; STI down 0.6%

SINGAPORE stocks on Friday morning declined after a strong finish the previous day.

The benchmark Straits Times Index dropped 0.6 per cent or 14.19 points to 2,438.84 as at 9.03am on Friday.

Losers outnumbered gainers 89 to 59, after 72.3 million securities worth S$71.1 million changed hands.

Among the most active counters by volume was Genting Singapore, which rose 0.75 per cent or 0.5 Singapore cent to 67 cents with 2.5 million shares traded. 

Singtel lost 0.4 per cent or S$0.01 to trade at S$2.61 with 2.4 million shares changing hands. The telco is reportedly looking to sell its telecommunications towers in Australia worth more than A$2 billion (S$1.73 billion).

CapitaLand Mall Trust fell 0.6 per cent or S$0.01 to S$1.61, with 1.9 million units traded as at 9.05am. 

The trio of local banks were in the red during the early morning trade. DBS was trading down 0.5 per cent or S$0.10 at S$18.31 as at 9.05am, UOB shed 0.6 per cent or S$0.12 to S$19.25, while OCBC dropped 0.9 per cent or S$0.08 to S$8.55. 

Other active index counters included Keppel Corporation, which gained S$0.08 or 1.5 per cent to S$5.59 as at 9.05am, and Mapletree Commercial Trust, which rose 1.2 per cent or S$0.02 to S$1.64. The Singapore Exchange lost 0.9 per cent or S$0.08 to S$9.22.

In the US, stocks rallied on Thursday as hopes for a truce in the price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia and a cut in oil output drove gains, taking some sting out of a shocking jump in Americans filing jobless claims due to coronavirus-led lockdowns.

In Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Friday after four days of losses, supported by a cheaper yen and Wall Street gains on the spike in oil prices.