Singapore shares track Wall Street to open lower on Wednesday; STI down 0.6% to 3,136.57

SINGAPORE shares tracked Wall Street losses overnight to open lower on Wednesday, with the Straits Times Index losing 0.6 per cent, or 18.89 points to 3,136.57 as at 9.01am.

This comes after US stocks tumbled into the red after a hawkish statement on trade by President Donald Trump, and as Democrats moved towards launching formal impeachment proceedings against Mr Trump.

The benchmark S&P 500 slipped 0.8 per cent, its steepest decline in a month, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 1.5 per cent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.5 per cent.

On the Singapore bourse, decliners outnumbered advancers 68 to 32, after about 31.9 million shares worth S$46.5 million changed hands.

Among the most heavily traded by volume, oil services player Rex International Holding fell 2.3 per cent, or 0.2 cent to 8.4 cents, with 1.9 million shares traded, while confectionery maker Delfi was flat at $1.15 with 1.8 million shares traded.

Financial stocks were also subdued in the early morning trade. DBS fell 0.7 per cent, or 18 Singapore cents to S$24.86, United Overseas Bank lost 0.4 per cent, or 11 cents to S$25.45, and OCBC Bank dropped 0.9 per cent, or 10 cents to S$10.81.

Other active index stocks included Yangzijiang Shipbuilding which plunged 2.9 per cent, or three cents to S$1, and Singapore Exchange which lost 1.4 per cent, or 12 cents to S$8.35 on a cum-dividend basis.

Elsewhere, Asian equities faltered too after Wall Street stocks fell on Tuesday amid the political turmoil in Washington.

Japan's Topix index declined 0.6 per cent as of 8.03am, South Korea's Kospi lost 0.4 per cent, and Australian stocks retreated 0.4 per cent.