Singapore shares open flat on Friday; STI down 0.4%

SINGAPORE stocks opened relatively flat on Friday, with the Straits Times Index edging down 0.4 per cent or 12.56 points to 3,505.17 as at 9.04am.

About 59.8 million shares worth S$76 million in total changed hands, an average unit price of S$1.27 per share.

The most actively traded counter was Marco Polo Marine, which was flat at 4.2 Singapore cents with 10.9 million shares changing hands. Other actives included Allied Tech and Falcon Energy.

Among active index shares, UOB was down by 12 Singapore cents at S$28.46, with DBS Group Holdings also down 38 Singapore cents at S$28.23.

The field was roughly evenly matched, with 64 gainers to 61 losers.

Overnight, worries about US President Donald Trump's trade policy offset a spate of largely positive US economic data on Thursday, resulting in a mixed session.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.5 per cent to 24,873.66, the broad-based S&P 500 lost 0.1 per cent at 2,747.33, and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.1 per cent to 7,481.74.

The spotlight was on Mr Trump's economic adviser Peter Navarro saying the US president would soon consider fresh punitive measures against Beijing over its "theft" of US intellectual property.

Stocks in Tokyo were a bright spot, opening 0.24 per cent higher on Friday, as the yen eased slightly against the US dollar.