Singapore shares open lower on Friday; STI down 0.1%

SINGAPORE stocks declined at the opening bell on Friday (Apr 26) morning, tracking overnight losses in global markets.

As at 9.01 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) fell 3.93 points or 0.1 per cent to 3,283.82. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 62 to 45 after 32.7 million securities worth S$46 million changed hands.

Seatrium : S51 0% was the most heavily traded counter by volume. The counter was down 2.3 per cent or S$0.002 at S$0.086, after 6.9 million securities were transacted. 

Other counters that were briskly exchanged included Yangzijiang Shipbuilding : BS6 0% which dipped 1.7 per cent or S$0.03 to S$1.72, after 3.4 million shares changed hands, and Southern Archipelago : A33 0% which remained unchanged at S$0.002, after 2.1 million securities were traded.

As for banking stocks, DBS : D05 0% gained 0.4 per cent or S$0.13 to S$34.58, OCBC : O39 0% inched up 0.1 per cent or S$0.02 to S$14.35, and UOB : U11 0% traded flat at S$30.52.

Over on Wall Street, stocks slumped on Thursday, following weaker-than-expected US economic data which reflected a slowdown in consumer spending and exports. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.6 per cent to 15,611.76, and the broad-based S&P 500 dipped 0.5 per cent to 5,048.42. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1 per cent lower at 38,085.80.

In Europe, shares retreated on Thursday, as investor sentiment took a blow from weak US economic data and losses in industrial goods. The pan-European Stoxx 600 shed 0.6 per cent to close at 502.38.