SINGAPORE shares opened lower on Thursday (Jul 18), after indices in the US and Europe closed mixed overnight.
The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.6 per cent or 20.25 points to 3,469.32 as at 9.01 am. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 89 to 29, after 50.5 million securities worth S$86.1 million changed hands.
Genting Singapore was the most actively traded counter by volume, decreasing 1.2 per cent or S$0.01 to S$0.855, with 6.1 million shares transacted.
Other heavily traded securities included Singtel, which declined 1.3 per cent or S$0.04 to S$2.98, with 5.2 million shares traded, as well as Marco Polo Marine, which rose 1.7 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.061, with 2.1 million shares changing hands.
Shares of the three local banks opened lower on Thursday morning. DBS was down 0.8 per cent or S$0.28 at S$37, while UOB slipped 0.2 per cent or S$0.06 to S$32.90. OCBC fell 0.6 per cent or S$0.09 to S$15.13.
In the US, indices ended mixed on Wednesday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished decisively lower after talk that tech equities are overbought, while the Dow pushed to a third straight record high. It continued to benefit from an inflow of funds to underperforming names from other sectors.
The Dow finished 0.6 per cent higher at 41,198.08. The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 1.4 per cent to 5,588.27, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slumped 2.8 per cent to 17,996.92.
Over in Europe, shares closed lower for a third straight day on Wednesday, with chip stocks sliding as investors remained wary of potential US-China trade tensions, with the focus now shifting to the European Central Bank’s upcoming rate decision.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed 0.5 per cent lower at 514.83, touching one-week lows with the technology sub-index falling 4.5 per cent, the biggest single-day drop since December 2022.
