Singapore shares open lower on Wednesday; STI down 0.5% to 3,149.41

SINGAPORE shares on Wednesday followed slides in the US and Europe markets overnight, with with the Straits Times Index opening down 15.91 points or 0.5 per cent to 3,149.41 as at 9.05am.

About 55.7 million shares worth S$145.2 million changed hands, which worked out to an average unit price of S$2.61 per share.

Losers outnumbered gainers 81 to 36.

The most actively traded stock was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings, which rose two Singapore cents or 1.45 per cent to S$1.40 with 6.6 million shares changing hands. Other actives included Oceanus, which is on the Singapore Exchange's watch list, and Asian Pay Television Trust.

Among financials, DBS Group Holdings declined S$0.10 or 0.4 per cent to S$24.86; OCBC Bank shares lost S$0.09 or 0.8 per cent at S$10.85, and United Overseas Bank declined S$0.20 or 0.8 per cent to S$24.11.

Among other index stocks, Singtel was trading flat at S$3.15 with about 3.5 million shares changing hands. Meanwhile, about 2.6 million CapitaMall Trust units traded unchanged at S$2.43.

In New York last night, the S&P 500 index lost 0.8 per cent while Europe's Stoxx 600 index fell 0.2 per cent, led by European banks shedding 0.4 per cent due to a possible fine related to Italy's huge budget deficit and subsequent risk sentiment.

Other Asian indexes in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia also fell in morning trading sessions.