Singapore shares retreat at Wednesday’s open; STI down 0.7%

SINGAPORE shares began trading lower on Wednesday (Nov 13), extending global equity market declines overnight.

As at 9.02 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.7 per cent or 24.31 points to 3,687.17. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 78 to 43 after 47.8 million securities worth S$89.5 million changed hands.

Genting Singapore was the most traded counter in terms of volume, falling 0.6 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.78 after 8.4 million shares changed hands.

Units of Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust were briskly transacted as well, shedding 3 per cent or S$0.03 to S$0.97 at the open.

After Singtel reported a 42.4 per cent year-on-year decline in first-half net profit to S$1.23 billion, shares of the telecommunications group were actively traded but remained flat at S$3.16.

The local banking trio was down in early trade, with DBS declining 0.7 per cent or S$0.30 to S$42.04. UOB dropped 1.4 per cent or S$0.49 to S$35.04, and OCBC slid 0.6 per cent or S$0.09 to S$16.08.

After a stretch of earlier post-election gains, Wall Street stocks edged lower at Tuesday’s close.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9 per cent to 43,910.98, while the broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.3 per cent to 5,983.99. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index closed 0.1 per cent lower at 19,281.4.

European equities were weighed down by concerns over the fate of US-China relations, as well as some downbeat earnings.

The Stoxx 600 notched its steepest one-day decline since early August, falling 2 per cent to 502.23 as at the end of trading on Tuesday.