SINGAPORE stocks declined at the opening bell on Wednesday (May 8) morning, tracking subdued overnight performance in the US market.
As at 9.01 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) shed 12.23 points or 0.4 per cent to 3,287.81. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 51 to 41 after 29.8 million securities worth S$66.7 million changed hands.
Seatrium : S51 0% was the most heavily traded counter by volume. The counter was 0.5 per cent or S$0.01 lower at S$1.93, after 6.2 million securities were transacted.
Other counters that were briskly exchanged included Singtel : Z74 0% which fell 0.4 per cent or S$0.01 to S$2.37, after 1.8 million shares changed hands; and petroleum and petrochemical trading company AnAn International : Y35 0%which remained unchanged, after 1.2 million securities were traded.
Banking stocks were mixed during early trade. DBS : D05 0% climbed 0.1 per cent or S$0.02 to S$35.95 and OCBC : O39 0% dipped 2.7 per cent or S$0.39 to S$13.87. UOB : U11 0% retreated 0.2 per cent or S$0.05 to S$30.50 after it posted a net profit of S$1.49 billion for its first quarter ended Mar 31, down 1.6 per cent from S$1.51 billion a year earlier. Excluding one-off expenses incurred in the acquisition of Citigroup’s consumer banking businesses, the bank’s net profit would have been 0.7 per cent lower at S$1.57 billion from S$1.58 billion.
Over on Wall Street, shares ended a bumpy session on Tuesday largely muted. Analysts highlighted lighter trading volume amid a relatively quieter week compared to last week’s release of major earnings reports, economic data and the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold interest rates steady.
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The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.1 per cent to 16,332.56, and the broad-based S&P 500 inched up 0.1 per cent to 5,187.7. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1 per cent to 38,884.26.
In Europe, shares climbed to record highs on Tuesday, propelled by strength in financial stocks. The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 1.1 per cent to close at 514.02.
