Singapore shares fall at Wednesday’s open; STI down 0.3%

SINGAPORE shares fell at the opening bell on Wednesday (Feb 28) morning, after a mixed performance in global markets.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.3 per cent or 9.23 points to 3,148.09 as at 9.01 am. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 53 to 48 after 56.6 million securities worth S$63.8 million changed hands.

Seatrium was the most heavily traded counter by volume. It traded flat at S$0.09 after 11 million securities were transacted.

Other companies that were briskly traded included Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, which gained 0.6 per cent or S$0.01 to S$1.68, as well as Thomson Medical, which rose 3.9 per cent or S$0.002 to S$0.054.

Banking stocks traded mixed in early morning trade. DBS was down 0.2 per cent or S$0.05 to S$33.45. OCBC declined 2 per cent or S$0.26 to S$13.05, and UOB inched up 0.04 per cent or S$0.01 to S$28.21. OCBC reported before the market opened that its net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2023, gained 12 per cent to S$1.62 billion from S$1.44 billion a year prior.

In the US, stocks finished mixed on Tuesday after downcast US consumer confidence and durable goods data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.3 per cent to 38,972.41. The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.2 per cent to 5,078.18, and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.4 per cent to 16,035.30.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 inched up on Tuesday, with Germany’s DAX hitting a record high. Investors also awaited this week’s inflation data that could indicate when interest rate cuts might start this year. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.2 per cent higher at 496.33.