Singapore shares open lower on Friday; STI down 0.17%

THE Singapore stock market extended its decline from the previous day, slipping at the opening bell on Friday following the absence of fresh market-moving events as the US market was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Straits Times Index lost 5.31 points or 0.17 per cent to 3,195.30 as at 9.06am.

However, gainers outnumbered losers 55 to 38, after 85.8 million securities worth about S$327.3 million changed hands.

The most active security by volume was Singtel, which traded cum dividend, up S$0.03 or 0.9 per cent to S$3.37 after 13.7 million shares were traded.

Genting Singapore and Suntec Reit were among other active securities.

Among financials, all three local banks lost ground with DBS declining S$0.17 or 0.7 per cent to S$25.36, OCBC shares losing S$0.08 or 0.7 per cent to S$10.78 and UOB down S$0.19 or 0.7 per cent to S$25.82.

In Europe, shares retreated from a four-year peak on Thursday as concerns about a US-China trade truce resurfaced after US President Donald Trump signed into law a bill supporting protesters in Hong Kong.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 0.1 per cent after gaining for four straight sessions.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher but were thinly traded following the closure of the US market for Thanksgiving.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.29 per cent or 67.99 points at 23,477.13 in early trade, while the broader Topix index edged up 0.19 per cent or 3.28 points to 1,711.34.