Singapore shares open lower on Friday; STI down 0.3% to 3,419.25

SINGAPORE stocks opened 0.3 per cent lower on Friday, with the Straits Times Index retreating 8.93 points to 3,419.25 as at 9.04am.

Losers outnumbered gainers 71 to 56, or about five down for every four up, with some 148.5 million shares worth S$292.8 million in total changing hands.

The most actively traded counter was Golden Agri-Resources, flat at S$0.315 with 8.9 million shares changing hands. Other actives included Dairy Farm flat at S$8.57 with 7.57 million shares traded, and StarHub at S$1.93 with 6.78 million shares transacted.

Active index shares included Venture at S$20.94, down 0.76 per cent or S$0.16 and OCBC at S$12.47, retreating 0.56 per cent or S$0.07.

Overnight on Wall Street, US stocks fell on Thursday after the United States moved to impose tariffs on metal imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union, prompting retaliatory measures from some of its trading partners.

On Thursday, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that a 25 per cent tariff on steel imports and a 10 per cent levy on aluminium imports from its allies would go into effect on Friday.

Tokyo stocks also declined on Friday, as trade war fears grew.