Singapore shares fall at Tuesday's open, STI down 0.3%

SINGAPORE stocks opened lower on Tuesday following muted activity in the region as US financial markets close for a holiday. Singapore's Straits Times Index headed down 0.3 per cent or 10.74 points to 3,202.26 as at 9.03am.

Losers outnumbered gainers 87 to 39, after 76.2 million securities worth S$68.8 million changed hands.

As at 9.04am, the most active counter was Medtecs International, which fell 9.7 per cent or S$0.011 to S$0.102, with 18.1 million shares traded followed by Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, which fell 1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$1 with 2.9 million shares traded. ComfortDelGro dropped 1 per cent or S$0.02 to S$2.07, with 2.8 million shares traded.

Banking stocks opened lower in the morning trade. As at 9.04am, DBS fell 0.2 per cent or S$0.06 to S$25.42, UOB lost 0.4 per cent or S$0.09 to S$25.96, while OCBC Bank fell 0.6 per cent or S$0.07 to S$10.94.

Other active index counters included Singtel, which dipped 0.9 per cent or S$0.03 to S$3.18 and CapitaLand, which decreased 0.5 per cent or S$0.02 to S$3.71, as at 9.04am.

Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Tuesday, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 index falling 0.6 per cent to 23,394.58 in early trade, while the broader Topix index dropped 0.5 per cent to 1,679.07.

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US financial markets were closed on Monday in observance of Presidents Day.

In Europe, shares hit a record high on Monday's close following a rally in Italian banks and fresh attempts by China to limit the economic impact of the Covid-19 outbreak. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index added 0.3 per cent, with trade-sensitive German stocks hitting all-time highs as Beijing stepped up stimulus measures.