Singapore shares open lower on Friday; STI down 0.4% to 3,135.04

SINGAPORE stocks opened 0.4 per cent lower on Friday, with the Straits Times Index shedding 12.65 points to 3,135.04 as at 9.04am.

Losers heavily outnumbered gainers 81 to 33, as some 51.1 million shares worth S$56.9 million in total changed hands.

The most actively traded counter was Nico Steel with 19.5 million shares changing hands, rising 50 per cent to 0.3 Singapore cent. YZJ Shipbuilding was the second most-traded counter with 4.19 million shares traded, flat at S$1.08.

Among active index stocks, DBS Group Holdings slipped 0.77 per cent to S$24.39, while Singtel retreated 0.32 per cent to S$3.13.

Tokyo stocks opened lower on Friday, with falls in US high-tech shares and a higher yen weighing on the market.

In US markets overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq saw sharp declines on Thursday as internet stocks faltered for a second day on concerns about increased regulation, while a warning from KLA Tencor led a slide in chip stocks.

The semiconductor manufacturer tumbled 9 per cent, and weighed on other chip equipment makers, after its chief financial officer said September was still "a drought for DRAM" and that a pick-up in business later this year would be less than expected.