Singapore shares open lower on Friday; STI down 0.1%

SINGAPORE stocks began Friday (Sep 20) trading in negative territory, despite gains in global equities overnight.

As at 9.03 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) dropped 4.72 points or 0.1 per cent to 3,628.46. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 69 to 57, after 60.5 million securities worth S$98.1 million changed hands.

Offshore and marine specialist Seatrium was the most actively traded counter by volume. The counter rose S$0.01 or 0.6 per cent to S$1.75 after 4.9 million shares changed hands.

Other actively traded names included resort and casino operator Genting Singapore, which traded flat at S$0.855. Watch-listed investment holding company Jadason Enterprises advanced S$0.002 or 11.8 per cent to S$0.019.

Banking stocks were mixed in early trade. DBS rose S$0.20 or 0.5 per cent to S$38.70. UOB was down S$0.03 or 0.1 per cent to S$32.70, and OCBC traded S$0.04 or 0.3 per cent lower at S$15.42.

Wall Street stocks soared to fresh records on Thursday as markets cheered the Federal Reserve’s move to aggressively cut interest rates to protect the labour market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.3 per cent to 42,025.19, marking its first close above 42,000. The broad-based S&P 500 rose 1.7 per cent to an all-time high of 5,713.64, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index ended up 2.5 per cent at 18,013.98.

In Europe, stocks advanced on Thursday after the Fed delivered a 50 basis points rate cut and flagged that further easing would be measured, raising hopes of a soft landing for the US economy.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 1.4 per cent at 521.67.