SINGAPORE shares started trading in negative territory on Friday (Jul 26). This comes as the Monetary Authority of Singapore left its monetary policy settings unchanged for the fifth straight meeting, in line with market expectations.
As at 9.01 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) opened 0.1 per cent or 4.67 points lower at 3,425.78. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 53 to 42 after 29.9 million securities worth S$31.8 million changed hands.
One of the most actively traded counters by volume was Biolidics, which was flat at S$0.01, with 2.1 million shares changing hands.
Other heavily traded securities included Seatrium, which fell 1.4 per cent or S$0.02 to S$1.45. CSE Global was flat at S$0.485, with 1.3 million shares traded.
Banking stocks were trading in the red at the open. DBS decreased 0.2 per cent or S$0.06 to S$36.48. OCBC inched down 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$14.88. UOB fell 0.3 per cent or S$0.08 to S$32.42.
Wall Street stocks ended mixed on Thursday on stronger-than-expected corporate earnings and economic data.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index ended the day in the red, declining by 0.9 per cent to 17,181.72. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.2 per cent higher at 39,935.07, while the broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.5 per cent to close at 5,399.22.
In Europe, lacklustre earnings reports in various sectors including tech and luxury weighed, while a global run for safe-haven assets deepened losses. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed 0.7 per cent lower at 508.63.
