Singapore shares open lower on Monday; STI down 0.3%

SINGAPORE equities began Monday (Jan 13) in negative territory, tracking losses in global markets last Friday.

As at 9.01 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) fell 11.05 points or 0.3 per cent to 3,790.51.

Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 76 to 33, after 36.9 million securities worth S$43.6 million changed hands.

Medical technology company Clearbridge Health was the most actively traded counter in terms of volume. The counter was unchanged at S$0.004 after 5.8 million shares were moved.

Other actively traded names included Rex International, which rose S$0.005 or 3.7 per cent to S$0.139. Meanwhile, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust was down S$0.02 or 1 per cent at S$1.92.

Local banking stocks were down at the open. DBS fell S$0.09 or 0.2 per cent to S$44.04. OCBC was down S$0.13 or 0.8 per cent at S$16.97, while UOB traded S$0.12 or 0.3 per cent lower at S$36.70.

Wall Street stocks plummeted last Friday, on the back of a strong employment report that fuelled expectations of the Federal Reserve possibly making fewer interest rate cuts this year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.6 per cent to 41,938.45. The broad-based S&P 500 Index fell 1.5 per cent to 5,827.04, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index retreated 1.6 per cent to 19,161.63.

In Europe, shares suffered their steepest decline in three weeks last Friday, following a robust US jobs report that stoked fresh inflation fears and solidified expectations of a cautious approach to rate cuts by the Fed.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index dropped 0.8 per cent to 511.50, its most significant fall since Dec 20.