Singapore stocks open lower on Thursday; STI down 0.8%

SINGAPORE shares opened lower on Thursday, with the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) falling 0.8 per cent or 21.31 points to 2,539.73 as at 9.07am. Losers outnumbered gainers 96 to 57, after 115.9 million securities worth S$139.7 million changed hands.

Among the most active counters by volume was Wilmar International, which fell 8.9 per cent or S$0.43 to S$4.43, with 6.7 million shares changing hands as at 9.04am.

Singapore Telecommunications fell 0.4 per cent or S$0.01 to S$2.23, with 2.6 million shares traded, while Genting Singapore lost 1.4 per cent or one Singapore cent to 69.5 cents. 

The trio of local banks all fell in early trade. DBS sank 0.8 per cent or S$0.16 to S$20.72. The lender on Thursday said it is providing a S$40 million loan facility to Sembcorp Industries to build a floating solar photovoltaic system on Tengeh Reservoir in Tuas.

UOB lost 0.4 per cent or S$0.08 to S$19.98, while OCBC Bank dropped 0.5 per cent or S$0.04 to S$8.86. 

Other active index counters include Keppel Corporation, which shed 1.5 per cent or S$0.07 to S$4.68.

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Singapore Airlines gained 0.8 per cent to S$0.03 to S$3.65, while City Developments Limited (CDL) fell 0.4 per cent or S$0.03 to S$7.99. Millennium Hotels and Resorts, the global brand of CDL subsidiary Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, on Wednesday cut 159 jobs - or about 15 per cent of its Singapore-based workforce.

In the US, Wall Street stocks retreated from records on Wednesday despite some strong earnings from retailers and Apple hitting a historic landmark as it became the first US company worth US$2 trillion.

European stocks closed higher on Wednesday following new record highs for Wall Street's main indices, while UK airlines rallied on hopes of a shorter quarantine period for travellers.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Thursday with falls on Wall Street partly offset by a cheaper yen against the dollar.