Singapore stocks dip at Tuesday's open; STI down 0.3%

SINGAPORE stocks fell on Tuesday (Mar 22) morning to track overnight losses on Wall Street, amid financial markets' scramble to recalibrate for a higher probability of the US Federal Reserve lifting interest rates by half-percentage point.

The Straits Times Index (STI) sank 0.3 per cent or 8.92 points to 3,346.59 as at 9.01am. Gainers outnumbered losers 59 to 46 after 48.4 million securities worth S$71.8 million changed hands.

Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust (MNACT) was the most actively traded counter by volume at the open, remaining unchanged at S$1.22 after some 5.7 million of its units were traded.

Its unitholders are now being offered the option of receiving the entire scheme consideration of the proposed merger between MNACT and Mapletree Commercial Trust , amounting to S$1.1949 per unit, wholly in cash.

Shares of Sembcorp Marine also saw brisk trading in the morning, rising S$0.001 or 1.1 per cent to S$0.093 with 4.3 million shares changing hands.

Index counter Singtel remained flat at S$2.59 after 4.7 million securities were transacted.

The trio of banks were mostly down, with DBS and UOB both in the red. Shares of DBS shed S$0.37 or 1.1 per cent to S$34.83, while UOB lost S$0.12 or 0.4 per cent to trade at S$32.08. OCBC was unchanged at S$12.16.

Over in the US, Wall Street stocks retreated on Monday to end last week's rally, as oil prices pushed higher and the Fed chair Jerome Powell delivered hawkish comments on inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.6 per cent at 34,552.99.

The broad-based S&P 500 slipped less than 0.1 per cent to 4,461.18, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.4 per cent to 13,838.46.

European shares were subdued at the close on Monday after choppy trading, as the surge in energy stocks was offset by investor concerns around fighting in Ukraine.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was flat at 454.79 after posting its biggest weekly percentage gain since November 2020 on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo shares opened higher on Tuesday after a three-day weekend.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index climbed 1 per cent or 263.89 points to 27,091.32 at the open, while the broader Topix index added 0.7 per cent or 13.66 points to 1,922.93.