Singapore shares dip at Wednesday’s open—STI dropped by 0.7%

SINGAPORE: Singapore shares dipped at Wednesday’s open, mirroring overnight declines on Wall Street. The decline was mainly influenced by the performance of Tesla and healthcare stocks.

The Business Times reports that the Straits Times Index (STI) dropped by 0.7%, or 23.52 points, to 3,224.2 by 9:01 a.m.

A glance across the broader market revealed more losers over gainers, with a ratio of 81 to 32, for 61.3 million securities valued at S$78.7 million, changing hands.

Among the most actively traded counters by volume was Singtel, which stumbled by 2.8% or S$0.07 to settle at S$2.47, with a turnover of 11.6 million shares.

Other notable players included Seatrium, maintaining stability at S$0.084 with 7.9 million shares transacted, and Beng Kuang Marine, which witnessed a decline of 1.7% or S$0.002 to S$0.117, with 5.6 million shares changing hands.

Banking stocks also experienced a downturn during early morning trade. DBS slipped by 0.6% or S$0.23 to S$35.97, UOB fell by 0.7% or S$0.21 to S$29.45, and OCBC shed 0.2% or S$0.02 to S$13.62.

The gloomy sentiment stemmed from the performance of US stocks the previous day. Tesla, in particular, saw a notable decline of 4.9%, which significantly dragged down the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

Healthcare shares also faltered, contributing to the broader market downturn.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated by 1% to 39,170.24. Similarly, the S&P 500 concluded 0.7% lower at 5,205.81, while the Nasdaq Composite suffered a 1% drop to 16,240.45.

Meanwhile, European stocks mirrored the downtrend, largely influenced by weaker performances in the healthcare sector. The continent-wide Stoxx 600 wrapped up Tuesday’s session with a 0.8% decrease, closing at 508.57 and slipping to a one-week low. /TISG

Read also: Singapore stocks had little change on Tuesday morning; STI relatively unchanged