Singapore stocks fall at Thursday's open; STI down 0.4%

SINGAPORE stocks opened lower on Thursday morning, following weaker than expected non-oil domestic exports (NODX) figures and mixed trading in regional markets.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.4 per cent or 11.68 points to 2,861.12 as at 9.01am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 60 to 51 after 102.8 million securities worth S$57.3 million changed hands.

NODX fell by 4.9 per cent year on year in November, in the second month of decline, according to trade agency Enterprise Singapore on Thursday. This was worse than the median estimate of 0.3 per cent growth in a private poll by Bloomberg, and extended the decrease of 3.1 per cent in October.

Genting Singapore shares were among the most actively traded securities on Thursday morning, with 7.2 million shares changing hands as at 9.02am. The counter fell 1.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$0.88.

Units of CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust were also among the top five actively traded counters in terms of value. Its units were down 1.4 per cent or S$0.03 to S$2.15 as at 9.02am.

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The trio of local banks were also trading lower on Thursday morning. DBS was down 0.1 per cent or S$0.03 to S$25.53, UOB fell 0.4 per cent or S$0.09 to S$22.90, while OCBC slipped 0.6 per cent or S$0.06 to S$10.17 as at 9.02am

Among index counters, Mapletree Industrial Trust was the top gainer on Thursday morning, rising 1.1 per cent or S$0.03 to S$2.84 as at 9.02am.

In the US, Wall Street stocks finished mostly higher overnight, with the Nasdaq setting a fresh record, as markets cheered progress on US stimulus talks and a dovish Federal Reserve announcement.

The Nasdaq closed at 12,658.19, a gain of 0.5 per cent, while the broad-based S&P 500 climbed 0.2 per cent to 3,701.17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.2 per cent to end the day at 30,154.54.

In Asia, Tokyo stocks opened flat on Thursday, with the yen's appreciation weighing on the market despite overnight gains on Wall Street in hopes for fresh US stimulus.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.08 per cent or 21.67 points at 26,735.73 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 0.09 per cent or 1.63 points at 1,785.20.

Elsewhere in the region, the Kospi in South Korea was down 0.2 per cent to 2,766.24 in morning trade on Thursday, while the ASX 200 in Australia was up 0.5 per cent to 6,714.8.