Singapore shares open lower tracking losses on Wall St; STI down 2%

SINGAPORE stocks opened lower on Wednesday following losses in a volatile US market session overnight.

The Straits Times Index (STI) lost 51.46 points or 2 per cent to 2,520.43 as at 9.06am.

Losers outnumbered gainers 147 to 39, after 66.8 million securities worth S$88.7 million changed hands.

ESR-Reit saw heavy trading at the opening bell, unchanged at 26.5 Singapore cents after 7.2 million units were traded.

Meanwhile, Singtel was down S$0.03 or 1.1 per cent at S$2.64, and SGX gained S$0.16 or 1.7 per cent to S$9.74.

All three local banks lost ground in early trade, as DBS fell S$0.33 or 1.7 per cent to S$18.78, OCBC lost S$0.09 or 1 per cent to S$8.84 while UOB dropped S$0.27 or 1.3 per cent to S$19.88.

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US stocks swung on Tuesday as markets grappled with the latest figures on the coronavirus outbreak.

After posting large gains on Monday, Wall Street appeared poised for a second straight positive session, with the Dow piling on almost 1,000 points at its peak. However, the rally faded and the major US indices all finished in the red, with the Dow slipping 0.1 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo opened higher on Wednesday. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index climbed 0.55 per cent or 103.94 points to 19,054.12, while the broader Topic index edged up 0.32 per cent or 4.44 points to 1,407.65.