SINGAPORE shares started trading in negative territory on Friday (Jan 17), tracking overnight losses in US markets.
As at 9.01 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) opened 0.2 per cent or 7.67 points lower at 3,793.46. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 43 to 40 after 17.4 million securities worth S$41.8 million changed hands.
Among the actively traded counters by volume was Thai Beverage, which tumbled 0.9 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.535, after two million shares changed hands.
Shares of CapitaLand Investment traded flat at S$2.49, while those of real estate company Pollux Properties were up 4.4 per cent or S$0.001 at S$0.024.
Units of Mapletree Logistics Trust rose 0.8 per cent or S$0.01 to S$1.28. This came after the trust on Thursday evening announced that its trustee entered into a purchase agreement to divest a property at Tuas for S$11.2 million, which represents a 39.8 per cent premium to its latest valuation.
Banking stocks were trading down at the open. DBS lost 0.4 per cent or S$0.19 to S$43.59, UOB dipped 0.2 per cent or S$0.06 to S$37, while OCBC shed 0.2 per cent or S$0.03 to S$16.99.
Wall Street stocks ended Thursday lower after consumer pricing data raised investors’ concerns about the inflation outlook. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.2 per cent at 43,153.13. The broad-based S&P 500 also declined 0.2 per cent to 5,937.34, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 0.9 per cent to 19,338.29.
In Europe, shares were lifted by luxury stocks and semiconductor counters. The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 1 per cent to 520.05, its highest since mid-December.
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