Singapore shares open lower on Thursday; STI down 1% to 3,233.58

SINGAPORE stocks opened lower on Thursday, with the Straits Times Index shedding 1 per cent, or 33.82 points, to 3,233.58 as at 9.04am.

Losers outnumbered gainers 84 to 52, as about 75.8 million shares worth S$181.8 million in total changed hands.

The most actively traded counter was YZJ Shipbuilding with 9.34 million shares traded, down 1.55 per cent or two Singapore cents to S$1.27. ThaiBev saw 5.4 million shares traded, down 0.7 per cent, or 0.5 Singapore cent, to 70.5 Singapore cents.

All three local banks fell at the start of trade. UOB dipped 1.75 per cent, or 47 Singapore cents to S$26.42, while OCBC Bank lost 1.41 per cent, or 16 Singapore cents, to S$11.23. DBS eased 1.35 per cent, or 35 Singapore cents, to S$25.60.

In Tokyo, stocks opened higher on Thursday with investor sentiment boosted by a weak yen and a record close on Wall Street.

In US markets overnight, the Dow edged to a second straight record on Wednesday following a batch of strong US economic data on hiring and consumer sentiment. It rose 0.2 per cent to 26,828.39, while the broad-based S&P 500 added 0.1 per cent at 2,925.51. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.3 per cent to 8,025.09.