Singapore shares open lower on Monday—STI fell by 0.2%

SINGAPORE: Singapore shares opened lower on Monday, July 8, continuing the decline from the previous week.

The Straits Times Index (STI) had fallen by 5.77 points or 0.2% to 3,405.04 by 9:01 am, The Business Times reports.

In the broader market, there were more gainers than losers, with 73 stocks rising and 52 falling after 35 million securities worth S$47.2 million were traded.

Among the most actively traded stocks was GSS Energy, a precision engineering company listed on Catalist. Its shares rose by S$0.002 or 7.1% to S$0.03, with 4.5 million shares traded.

Dyna-Mac, an offshore oil and gas contractor, also saw significant activity. Its shares increased by S$0.015 or 3.3% to S$0.47. Conversely, Singtel saw its shares decline. Its shares shed S$0.02 or 0.7% to S$2.83.

Singapore’s local banks had mixed results in early trading. UOB was the only one to see a rise, with its shares increasing by S$0.05 or 0.2% to S$32.55.

In contrast, DBS experienced a small drop of S$0.07 or 0.2% to S$37.35, and OCBC dipped by S$0.04 or 0.3% to S$14.96.

On Friday, Wall Street indices ended higher, supported by data indicating weaknesses in the US labour market, which boosted expectations for potential interest rate cuts as early as September.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.2% to close at 39,375.87, the S&P 500 increased 0.5% to 5,567.19, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.9% to 18,352.76.

However, the positive sentiment from the US did not entirely translate to European markets. European shares ended the week lower, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 index declining by 0.2% to 516.6.

This drop was driven by losses in banks and energy stocks, as investors turned cautious ahead of the second round of voting in the French parliamentary elections. /TISG

Read also: Singapore shares open lower on Friday—STI dropped 0.2%

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