Singapore stocks open lower on Tuesday; STI down 0.4%

SINGAPORE stocks opened weaker on Tuesday after a mixed close on Wall Street. The Straits Times Index (STI) was down 0.4 per cent or 13.08 points to 3,113.80 as at 9.02am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 86 to 69, with 66.9 million securities worth S$72.0 million changing hands.

The most active counter by volume was RH Petrogas, with 11.9 million shares worth S$2.0 million traded as at 9.02am. Its shares were up 0.1 Singapore cent or 0.6 per cent to 16.9 cents.

Genting Singapore was also heavily traded, with 4.6 million shares worth S$3.9 million changing hands. Its shares were down one Singapore cent or 1.2 per cent at 84.5 cents.

Among index securities, Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust (Ascendas Reit) and ComfortDelGro were both actively traded in the morning. The Reit was down 0.3 per cent or S$0.01 to S$2.96, while the taxi operator fell S$0.01 or 0.6 per cent to S$1.62 in early trade.

Banking stocks were down in early trade. DBS fell S$0.16 or 0.5 per cent to S$29.44, OCBC declined S$0.07 or 0.6 per cent to S$11.83, while UOB lost S$0.17 or 0.7 per cent to S$25.58.

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In the US, the continued resurgence of technology shares saw the Nasdaq and S&P 500 each finish at records on Monday, while weakness in financial and industrial equities left the Dow lower.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index led the market, winning 1 per cent to close the session at 14,500.51, while broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.2 per cent to end at 4,290.61, its third straight all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.4 per cent to 34,283.27.

Meanwhile, European shares ended lower on Monday, with travel stocks leading losses on concerns over bans on British tourists, while a spike in Asian Covid-19 infections hit crude prices and saw energy stocks tumble more than 2 per cent.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended 0.6 per cent lower, with the travel and leisure index down 4.4 per cent to a one-month low.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Tuesday in subdued trade after a mixed close on Wall Street, as a US Federal Reserve official's speech failed to offer fresh clues for trade.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.7 per cent or 205.96 points at 28,842.06 in early trade, while the broader Topix index lost 0.8 per cent or 16.04 points to 1,949.63.