Singapore shares remained mostly flat on Thursday—STI dip 0.02%

SINGAPORE: Singapore shares remained mostly flat on Thursday morning, following a quiet trading session after the Vesak Day public holiday on Wednesday.

The Business Times reported that the Straits Times Index (STI) opened with a minor dip, decreasing by 0.02% or 0.69 points reaching 3,307.21 at 9:01 am.

The broader market saw a slight advantage for gainers, who outnumbered losers 70 to 63. In total, 64.3 million securities valued at S$98.5 million changed hands.

Golden Agri-Resources was the most actively traded stock by volume, with its shares increasing by 1.9% or S$0.005 to S$0.27, on 7.6 million shares traded.

Other heavily traded stocks included Marco Polo Marine, which saw a 1.5% rise or S$0.001 to S$0.068 trading 6.9 million shares, and Singtel, which traded 0.4% higher or S$0.01 at S$2.41 with 4.6 million shares changing hands.

Singtel’s trading activity followed the company’s announcement of a net loss of S$1.3 billion for the second half ending in March, primarily due to exceptional losses.

Banking stocks displayed mixed performance in early trade. DBS saw a modest increase of 0.3% or S$0.10, reaching S$35.78. UOB also experienced a similar rise, climbing 0.3% or S$0.09 to S$30.32. Conversely, OCBC saw a decline, dropping 0.4% or S$0.06 to S$14.32.

Singapore Airlines faced a downturn, falling 1.2% or S$0.08 to S$6.68. The national carrier recently dealt with a crisis after one of its flights from London’s Heathrow Airport to Singapore encountered severe turbulence, resulting in the death of a British passenger and injuries to several others.

Singapore Airlines experienced a drop, falling 1.2% or S$0.08 to S$6.68. This follows an unfortunate incident on one of its flights from London’s Heathrow Airport to Singapore, where severe turbulence resulted in the death of a British man and injuries to several passengers.

Read also: One dead, many injured due to severe turbulence on board SIA flight to Singapore

In the United States, stock markets retreated on Wednesday due to mixed earnings reports and ongoing inflation concerns highlighted by the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.5% to 39,671.04. The broad-based S&P 500 decreased by 0.3% to 5,307.01, while the Nasdaq Composite Index slid 0.2% to 16,801.54.

In Europe, shares closed at a one-week low, pressured by a sell-off in automakers following reports of potential Chinese tariffs on imported cars. The Europe-wide Stoxx 600 index fell 0.3% to 521.18. European markets were impacted by rising sovereign bond yields following data indicating that UK inflation eased less than expected in April. /TISG

Read also: Singapore shares saw little movement on Tuesday—STI dipped by 0.02%