Singapore shares muted at Wednesday's open after global markets fall; STI up 0.06% to 3,352.71

SINGAPORE shares entered Wednesday's morning session barely moved, even as key global markets including Wall Street recorded losses after US President Donald Trump ramped up his trade rhetoric against China.

The Straits Times Index was up just 0.06 per cent or 2.17 points to 3,352.71 points as at 9.03am.

Gainers outpaced losers 59 to 43, after 109.4 million securities worth S$480.4 million changed hands.

The most heavily traded by volume were Singtel, which was flat at S$3.37 after 16.3 million shares traded, and Golden Agri-Resources, which fell 1.61 per cent or 0.5 Singapore cent to 30.5 cents with 9.9 million shares changing hands as at 9.02am.

Banking stocks were also among the most actively traded on Wednesday morning. DBS gained 1.25 per cent or 33 cents to S$26.82, OCBC was down 0.17 per cent or two cents to S$11.69, while UOB inched up 0.08 per cent or two cents to S$26.82.

Other active index securities included CapitaLand which rose 0.55 per cent or two cents to S$3.65, and Keppel Corp which fell 0.46 per cent or three cents to S$6.46.

Frasers Hospitality Trust lost 1.42 per cent or one Singapore cent to 69.5 cents as at 9.02am. The international hotel investor on Tuesday cut its distribution per stapled security for the third quarter by 10.2 per cent to 1.0086 Singapore cents, amid weakness in its Australian assets.

Meanwhile, Frasers Logistics and Industrial Trust edged down 0.83 per cent or one cent to S$1.19 as at 9.02am. It said on Wednesday morning that its private placement had raised S$258.1 million at an issue price of S$1.173 per unit.

CapitaLand Retail China Trust gained 0.63 per cent or one cent to S$1.61 as at 9.03am. The real estate investment trust (Reit) on Wednesday morning posted a distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.54 cents for its second quarter, with revenue boosted by stronger rental growth from its core multi-tenanted malls.

Lian Beng Group fell 1.92 per cent or one Singapore cent to 51 cents as at 9.02am. The mainboard-listed contractor saw its fourth-quarter net profit plunge 74 per cent amid the absence of a one-off gain.

In the US, stocks retreated at Tuesday's close as the Federal Reserve opened a monetary policy meeting amid strong consumer data and more White House pressure to cut rates.

Wall Street shares were also in the red most of the session after an early morning tweetstorm from Mr Trump accusing China of going back on commitments as trade talks resumed in Shanghai.

Mr Trump also reiterated calls for the Fed to enact a deep interest rate cut. The central bank is expected to cut interest rates on Wednesday, but investors are not sure how big the cut will be.

In Europe, the main Stoxx 600 index on Tuesday posted its worst session since a May selloff, following Mr Trump's negative tweets on China, deepening wounds left by a batch of weak economic data and corporate earnings.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Wednesday. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.86 per cent to 21,522.27 in early trade while the broader Topix index was down 0.80 per cent at 1,563.04.