SINGAPORE: Singapore shares opened flat on Monday after the Singapore Budget 2024 announcement.
As the opening bell rang on Monday morning, the Straits Times Index (STI) showed a marginal decrease of 0.01%, settling at 3,221.58, The Business Times reports.
The Budget, revealed last Friday, allocated funds for various sectors, including cost-of-living support, businesses, and housing, and introduced new initiatives like the SkillsFuture programme and Refundable Investment Credit scheme.
Market activity reflected a mix of trading sentiments, with losers outnumbering gainers at 64 to 48. A total of 58.9 million securities, valued at S$50.2 million, exchanged hands in the morning session.
One of the most actively traded stocks was Thai Beverage, which saw a 3% increase, reaching S$0.515 per share following the transaction of 16.1 million securities. Similarly, Seatrium experienced a 2.2% rise to S$0.095 per share, with 10.6 million securities traded.
However, telecommunications giant Singtel witnessed a decline of 0.8%, falling to S$2.36 per share, with 3.1 million securities changing hands.
Banking stocks displayed a mixed performance in early trading. DBS showed a slight increase of 0.3%, rising to S$33.97 per share. Conversely, OCBC experienced a decrease of 0.2%, settling at S$13.24 per share, while UOB slipped marginally by 0.03% to S$29.18 per share.
The trading activity in Singapore mirrored trends seen in global markets. Wall Street went down on Friday because wholesale prices rose more than expected, making people less hopeful about the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates soon.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.4% to 38,627.99, while the S&P 500 Index lost 0.5%, closing at 5,005.57. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped by 0.8% to 15,775.65.
In contrast, European stocks ended the week on a positive note, driven by strong earnings reports and expectations of potential rate cuts by the European Central Bank.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose by 0.6% to 491.59, reaching a fresh two-year high. Notably, miners led the gains, surging by 2.5% over the week and touching a two-week high. /TISG
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