SINGAPORE - Singapore shares opened slightly lower on Friday (Aug 23), with the Straits Times Index losing 0.1 per cent, or 2.99 points to 3,124.75 as at 9.01am.

This comes after Wall Street stocks closed mixed overnight following a chopping session on lacklustre economic data, ahead of a key Federal Reserve address.

The broad-based S&P 500 ticked 0.1 per cent lower, with investors turning their attention to the central bank's annual summit, where chairman Jay Powell will speak on Friday. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4 per cent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2 per cent on a rally in shares of Boeing.

On the Singapore bourse, gainers outnumbered losers 47 to 35, after about 19.3 million shares worth about $25 million changed hands.

Among the most heavily traded by volume, Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust was up 0.8 per cent, or one cent to $1.35 with 3.6 million units trade, while YZJ Shipbuilding tumbled 2.7 per cent, or 2.5 cents to 90.5 cents, with 3.1 million shares traded.

Banking stocks were mostly down in the early morning trade - DBS lost 0.4 per cent, or nine cents to $24.50, United Overseas Bank was flat at $24.82, and OCBC Bank slipped 0.2 per cent, or two cents to $10.67.

Other active index stocks included Wilmar International which fell 0.8 per cent, or three cents to $3.80, while Thai Beverage was up 0.5 per cent, or 0.5 cent to 93.5 cents.

Elsewhere, Asian equities were mixed tracking US stocks overnight. Japan's Topix rose 0.1 per cent, while South Korea's Kospi fell 0.3 per cent, and Australian stocks gained 0.1 per cent.