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

SINGAPORE shares continued their fall on Tuesday following a regional rout on Monday driven largely by pockets of Covid-19 resurgence across the globe, particularly in Europe and the UK.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) lost about 0.3 per cent or 7.18 points to 2,478.53 as at 9.04am.

Gainers and losers were evenly matched, after 43 million securities worth S$66.1 million changed hands.

Among the most active stocks by volume was Singapore Telecommunications, which lost 0.9 per cent or S$0.02 to S$2.19 as at 9.05am, with 2.4 million shares traded.

Also heavily traded was ComfortDelGro Corporation, which lost 0.7 per cent or S$0.01 to S$1.45, with 1.5 million shares traded.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding gained 1.5 per cent or 1.5 Singapore cents to 99.5 cents, with one million shares changing hands.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

Singapore banks put in a mixed showing on Tuesday morning. DBS fell 1 per cent or S$0.19 to S$19.80. OCBC rose 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$8.48, while UOB fell 0.6 per cent or S$0.11 to S$19.09.

The trio are increasingly using data to customise personal finance, The Business Times reported on Tuesday. Separately, according to leaked files from the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, DBS was among banks in Singapore that handled about US$4.5 billion in suspicious transactions between 2000 and 2017.

Other active index counters at Tuesday's open included the Singapore Exchange, which lost 0.6 per cent or S$0.05 to S$8.85.

Wilmar International gained 0.5 per cent or S$0.02 to S$4.37.

Keppel Corporation fell 0.2 per cent or S$0.01 to S$4.18. The conglomerate on Tuesday said its offshore and marine arm has clinched two contracts worth about S$200 million combined.

In the US, Wall Street stocks dropped for a third straight session on Monday as worries about the latest coronavirus surge and the diminishing odds of another US stimulus bill weighed on equities.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 marked its worst day in more than three months on Monday as HSBC and Standard Chartered slid on reports the banks were among those that moved allegedly illicit funds, while travel stocks plummeted on fears of more coronavirus-related lockdowns.