Singapore stocks fall at Thursday's open, tracking Wall Street sell-off; STI down 0.4%

SINGAPORE shares started Thursday on a softer note, with a weak lead from Wall Street overnight.

Jeffrey Halley, Oanda's senior market analyst told The Business Times on Thursday that the "wild swings" seen this week are set to continue this morning, with the fall in US markets overnight replicated in Asia.

"Given that most of the fallout occurred on the Nasdaq and S&P 500, with cyclicals holding their own, I expect the more tech-heavy Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and China markets to suffer today.

"The more cyclical Asean markets, including Singapore, should escape the worst of the tech sell-off seen overnight," he said.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 11.97 points or 0.4 per cent to 2,988.40 as at 9.02am. Decliners outnumbered advancers 100 to 44, after 189 million securities worth S$95.8 million changed hands.

Among the index securities, the most heavily traded by volume was Mapletree Logistics Trust, which shed S$0.03 or 1.6 per cent to S$1.81, with 4.5 million units traded.

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The trio of local lenders were mixed in early trade. DBS added S$0.04 or 0.2 per cent to S$27.52, OCBC slipped S$0.03 or 0.3 per cent to S$11.22, while UOB was down S$0.01 or 0.04 per cent to S$25.33.

Seafood supplier Oceanus fell 0.2 Singapore cent or 4.8 per cent to four cents, while Venture Corp sank S$0.37 or 1.9 per cent to S$19.14.

Meanwhile, Union Gas rose S$0.05 or 7.3 per cent to S$0.74. This comes after the company on Wednesday said it is working with Surbana Jurong to study the potential of redeveloping its fuel station into a multi-fuels and energy facility.

Mainboard-listed Sarine Technologies gained 2.5 Singapore cents or 5.1 per cent to 52 cents. The Israel-based diamond technology firm is planning to seek a dual listing on Israel's Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

Separately, FJ Benjamin rose 0.8 Singapore cent or 17.4 per cent to 5.4 cents. The counter soared on Wednesday after announcing a partnership with Lazada Singapore, and its removal from the Singapore Exchange's watchlist a day earlier.

Over on Wall Street, tech shares had another ugly session on Wednesday, following disappointing US economic data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.4 per cent to close the session at 31,270.09, the broad-based S&P 500 fell 1.3 per cent to 3,819.72, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 2.7 per cent to 12,997.75.

European stocks ended flat on Wednesday, with gains in economy-sensitive sectors offset by a rise in bond yields as investors raised their inflation expectations for the year. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index ended largely unchanged after opening stronger, with utility stocks leading losses in the eurozone.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Thursday on profit-taking, tracking losses on Wall Street. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 1.3 per cent or 370.86 points at 29,188.24 in early trade, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.9 per cent or 17.53 points to 1,887.01.