Singapore shares open almost flat on Friday; STI inches up 0.01% to 3,126.21

SINGAPORE shares inched up on Friday, after the US market was weighed down by revelations in the impeachment probe of President Donald Trump. The Straits Times Index gained 0.40 points or 0.01 per cent to 3,126.21 as at 9.03am.

About 27.7 million shares worth S$31.5 million changed hands, which worked out to an average unit price of about S$1.14 per share.

Losers edged out gainers 46 to 43.

Watch-listed Jasper Investments was among the most actively traded securities, unchanged at S$0.003 after 5.4 million shares changed hands.

Blumont Group was up S$0.001 or 50 per cent to S$0.003 after 4.1 million shares were traded.

Mapletree Commercial Trust (MCT) traded down S$0.03 or 1.3 per cent to S$2.33. It had on Friday morning announced it was buying a business park in Pasir Panjang for S$1.55 billion from Heliconia Realty, a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of Mapletree Investments, MCT's sponsor.

Among financials, DBS advanced S$0.06 or 0.2 per cent to S$24.88 and UOB gained S$0.10 or 0.4 per cent to S$25.75. OCBC lost S$0.02 or 0.2 per cent to S$10.80.

Brokerage CGS-CIMB on Thursday said DBS and UOB have rolled out standalone digital banks in regional markets and stepped up their efforts in digitalising processes, but that OCBC is a laggard in this respect.

Wall Street stocks declined on Thursday as investors weighed somewhat better news on US-China trade talks against new revelations in the impeachment probe of Mr Trump.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.3 per cent at 26,891.12. The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.2 per cent to close at 2,977.62, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.6 per cent to 8,030.66.

European shares saw broad-based gains on Thursday, rallying after encouraging comments from China on trade with the United States came as a welcome relief amid growth worries and political turmoil.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed up 0.6 per cent, after weak purchasing managers' surveys, worries about Britain's exit from the European Union and the impeachment probe into Mr Trump had pressured the index over the last three sessions.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan shares opened lower with the Nikkei index dropping 0.52 per cent or 115.75 points to 21,932.49 yen in early trade, while the broader Topix index lost 0.70 per cent or 11.31 points to 1,611.96.