Singapore stocks open lower on Monday; STI down 0.2%

SINGAPORE stocks opened lower on Monday after Wall Street stocks concluded a strong week with fresh records on Friday.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.2 per cent or 5.40 points to 3,179.14 as at 9.01am. Gainers outnumbered losers 79 to 53 after 52.5 million securities worth S$41.5 million changed hands.

Jiutian Chemical shares were the most actively traded securities on Monday morning, with 16.7 million shares changing hands as at 9.01am. The counter rose 4.4 per cent or 0.4 Singapore cent to 9.6 cents.

Among index counters, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding also saw brisk trading, with 4 million shares worth S$5.1 million changing hands. Its shares fell 0.8 per cent or S$0.01 to S$1.28.

The trio of local banks were mixed in early trade. As at 9.01am, DBS slipped 0.04 per cent or S$0.01 to S$28.64, UOB gained 0.1 per cent or S$0.03 to S$26.10, while OCBC advanced 0.3 per cent or S$0.04 to S$11.83.

In the US, stocks rose on Friday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.9 per cent to end the week at 33,800.60 - a new all-time high. The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.8 per cent to 4,128.80, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.5 per cent to 13,900.19.

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European shares edged up to a fresh record, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index up 0.1 per cent at close, completing a sixth week of gains as investors weighed prospects for recovery and awaited the earnings season.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Monday. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.2 per cent or 64.15 points at 29,832.21, while the broader Topix index advanced 0.3 per cent or 6.76 points to 1,966.23.