Singapore shares open lower on Wednesday; Jardine stocks dominate losers

SINGAPORE share prices opened lower on Wednesday with the Straits Times Index (STI) down 11.23 points or 0.39 per cent to 2,857.24 at 9am.

This followed Wall Street stocks, which tumbled on Tuesday on worries about global growth and the burgeoning Volkswagen emissions scandal.

According to AFP, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 179.72 points (1.09 per cent) to 16,330.47. The broad-based S&P 500 fell 24.23 (1.23 per cent) to 1,942.74, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index sank 72.23 (1.50 per cent) to 4,756.72.

Singapore's STI had, on Monday, finished 13.8 points lower at 2,868.47.

On Wednesday morning, Jardine group stocks dominated the exchange's biggest losers in early trading. At 9.02am, Jardine Matheson was at US$47.05 (down US$0.55 or 1.2 per cent); Haw Par at S$8.31 (down S$0.18 or 2.1 per cent); Hongkong Land at US$6.65 (down US$0.14 or 2.1 per cent); and Jardine Strategic at US$27.13 (down S$0.12 or 0.4 per cent).

Some 36.3 million shares worth S$62 million changed hands, with losers outnumbering gainers 82-47.