SINGAPORE - Singapore stocks slipped when the market opened on Thursday (July 18), with the Straits Times Index falling 0.35 per cent or 11.91 points to 3,352.96 as at 9.01am after US and European markets fell overnight.
Losers outnumbered gainers 78 to 46, or about five securities down for every three up, after 23.3 million securities worth $51.5 million changed hands.
Among the most heavily traded by volume, CapitaLand Commercial Trust declined 1.4 per cent or $0.03 to $2.14 with 3.8 million shares traded. TEE International slipped 1.0 per cent or 0.1 cent to 9.9 cents with 2.3 million shares traded. Mapletree Logistics Trust shed 0.6 per cent or $0.01 to $1.59 with 2.2 million shares traded.
Banking stocks started the day lower, with DBS Group Holdings down 0.1 per cent or $0.03 to $26.23; OCBC Bank was 0.5 per cent or $0.06 lower at $11.52 and United Overseas Bank dipped 0.1 per cent or $0.02 to $26.58.
Other active index stocks included Keppel Corp, down 0.7 per cent or $0.05 to $6.65 ahead of the release of its second-quarter results after the market closes on Thursday; and Singtel, up 0.3 per cent or $0.01 to $3.53.
Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Thursday, tracking declines in US and Europe, as the yen edged higher against the US dollar, with the Nikkei 225 index declining 0.62 per cent or 132.64 points at 21,336.54 in early trade while the Topix index fell 0.59 per cent or 9.31 points at 1,558.10.
US stock indexes grew weaker as declines in rail companies' shares placed pressure on the S&P 500 industrials index which saw a 2.2 per cent slide, the highest among S&P's 11 major sectors. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Transportation Average fell 3.6 per cent.
On a whole, the S&P 500 dropped 19.62 points or 0.65 per cent to 2,984.42, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 115.78 points or 0.42 per cent to 27,219.85, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 37.59 points or 0.46 per cent to 8,185.21.
In Europe, stock markets ended three straight days of gains, with Swedish shares hit by less than stellar quarterly results and oil companies hit by drops in oil prices. The pan-European STOXX 600 closed down 0.4 per cent as European banks also drew weaker performance from quarterly results of Wall Street lenders.
