Singapore shares open lower on Friday; STI down 0.5% to 3,282.54

SINGAPORE stocks opened 0.5 per cent lower on Friday in line with falling global markets, with the Straits Times Index slipping 17.46 points to 3,282.54 as at 9.04 am.

Losers outnumbered gainers 73 to 40, or about nine down for every five up, as some 61.4 million shares worth S$112.9 million in total changed hands.

The most actively traded counter was Singtel, which fell S$0.05 or 1.6 per cent to S$3.110 with 4.65 million shares changing hands. Other actives included Noble Group at S$0.109, up S$0.005 or 4.8 per cent with 4.24 million shares traded, and ComfortDelGro at S$2.22, down S$0.01 or 0.5 per cent with 3.9 million shares changing hands.

Active index stocks included DBS at S$26.98, down by S$0.05 or 0.2 per cent, and Venture at S$17.86, dipping by S$0.23 or 1.3 per cent.

In US indices overnight, the Dow fell for an eighth straight session on Thursday on trade war fears, with automakers tumbling following a profit warning from Daimler tied to US-China tariffs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is made up of many companies seen as especially vulnerable to a trade war, dropped 0.8 per cent to 24,461.70.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.6 per cent to 2,749.76, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.9 per cent to 7,712.95, AFP reported.

In Tokyo, stocks opened lower on Friday, extending losses in global markets amid escalating trade tensions and a stronger yen against the US dollar.