Singapore stocks fall at Friday's open; STI down 0.7%

SINGAPORE shares fell in early trade on Friday (Nov 26) as European shares bounced off 3-week lows while Wall Street was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Straits Times Index (STI) moved down 0.7 per cent or 23.91 points to 3,197.61 as at 9.04 am.

Losers outnumbered gainers 94 to 55, after 114.2 million securities worth S$103.7 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was engineering services firm Tritech Group 5G9 : 5G9 0%, which gained S$0.002 or 9.5 per cent to S$0.023 after 14.4 million shares were traded.

ComfortDelGro C52 : C52 0% was also actively traded at the open, opening lower at S$1.48, down S$0.02 or 1.3 per cent, with 8 million shares changing hands.

Index counter Genting Singapore G13 : G13 0% was among the most actively traded securities on Friday morning, with 4.4 million shares traded. The counter fell by S$0.02 or 2.4 per cent to S$0.81.

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The trio of local banks were a sea of red at the open.

DBS D05 : D05 0%was down S$0.16 or 0.5 per cent to S$31.95, despite a resumption of its digital banking services following a 2-day outage. The bank said on Thursday (Nov 25) night that the disruptions were due to a problem with access-control servers, stressing that its systems "remain secure and were not a target of a cyberattack".

UOB U11 was down S$0.21 or 0.8 per cent to trade at S$27.35, while OCBC O39 f : O39 0%ell S$0.08 or 0.7 per cent to S$11.66 as at 9.05 am.

Wall Street was closed on Thursday (Nov 25) as the US celebrates Thanksgiving.

Meanwhile, European shares rose on Nov 25 as investors bought into defensive sectors such as utilities amid worries about soaring coronavirus cases across the continent.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.4 per cent, bouncing off 3-week lows hit on Wednesday (Nov 24). Utilities and healthcare stocks, sectors considered as safer bets during times of economic uncertainty, were among top gainers.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Friday (Nov 26) with few fresh cues as US markets took a holiday.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.7 per cent, or 192.2 points, to 29,307.08 in early trade, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.6 per cent, or 12.25 points, to 2,013.44.