SINGAPORE stocks began Monday (Nov 18) trading in negative territory as markets abroad experienced losses over the weekend.
As at 9.01 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) inched down 0.15 point at 3,744.55. Across the broader market, losers equalled gainers at 54 after 23.2 million securities worth S$34.1 million changed hands.
Marine aquaculture specialist Oceanus was the most actively traded counter by volume. It was trading flat at S$0.006 with 4.3 million securities switching hands.
Other actively traded counters included Thai Beverage which traded flat at S$0.515 and real estate investment trust CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust which was up 0.5 per cent or S$0.01 at S$1.99.
Banking stocks were mostly trading down at open. OCBC climbed 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$16.45 while UOB fell 0.03 per cent or S$0.01 to S$36.36 and DBS declined 0.7 per cent or S$0.29 to S$42.65.
Wall Street stocks finished lower on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comments that the Fed was in no hurry to cut rates stoked concerns that next month might not see a rate cut.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.7 per cent to 43,444.99. The broad-based S&P 500 Index dropped 1.3 per cent to 5,870.62 and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 2.2 per cent to 18,680.12.
European shares closed lower on the back of disappointing earnings and fears of US President-elect Donald Trump’s policies. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index dropped 0.8 per cent to close at 503.12.
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