Singapore stocks fall at Thursday's open; STI down 0.3%

SINGAPORE shares opened lower on Thursday even after a modest rally on Wall Street on Wednesday.

The Straits Times Index (STI) lost 0.3 per cent or 9.7 points to 3,136.39 as at 9.01am. However, gainers outnumbered losers 88 to 47, with 108 million securities worth S$116 million changing hands.

QT Vascular was the most actively traded counter by volume with 16.1 million shares worth S$100,000 traded within the first minute of market open. Its shares were at 0.7 Singapore cent, up 16.7 per cent or 0.1 cent from when it last traded on Tuesday.

This follows the group's announcement after market close on Monday of a proposed acquisition of 60 per cent of the entire issued and paid-up share capital of Asia Dental Group and a proposed subscription of some 4.06 billion ordinary shares in the capital of the new holding company.

Ntegrator International also saw brisk trading, with 9.6 million shares worth S$130,000 changing hands. Its shares gained 16.7 per cent or 0.2 Singapore cent to 1.4 cents from when it last traded on Friday.

This comes after it entered into a conditional placement agreement to issue some 187.9 million new shares in the company as part of a proposed placement exercise to raise about S$2.1 million.

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Index stock Singtel was also actively traded, with 2.9 million shares worth S$7 million traded as at 9.01am. The counter lost 2.4 per cent or S$0.06 to S$2.40.

The telco on Thursday revealed a strategic reset that includes unlocking the value of its infrastructure asset portfolio. This comes on the same day the group reported a 92.7 per cent decline in H2 net profit of S$91 million from S$1.2 billion in H2 FY2020.

The trio of local banks were mixed in early trade. DBS fell by 0.1 per cent or S$0.03 to S$29.94 in early trading and OCBC dropped 0.9 per cent or S$0.11 to S$12.11, while UOB edged up 0.04 per cent or S$0.01 to S$25.90 as at 9.01am.

Over on Wall Street, stocks closed with modest gains on Wednesday after positive corporate news fought against lingering concerns over global recovery and US inflation, resulting in a lacklustre session.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended essentially flat at 34,323.05, the broad-based S&P 500 inched up 0.2 per cent to 4,195.99 and the tech-rich Nasdaq grew 0.6 per cent to 13,738.

European stocks ended flat on Wednesday, led by bank shares after central bank policymakers said monetary policy would be kept loose despite recent signs of an uptick in inflation. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was flat, with travel and leisure gains offset by bank falls.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Thursday in cautious trade following modest rallies on Wall Street. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.3 per cent or 88.63 points to 28,553.56 in early trade, while the broader Topix index slid 0.2 per cent or 4.19 points to 1,916.48.