Singapore shares open lower on Wednesday; STI down 0.2% to 3,085.86

The Singapore Exchange Centre in Shenton Way. PHOTO: ST FILE

SINGAPORE - Singapore shares opened lower on Wednesday (Sept 4), with the Straits Times Index losing 0.2 per cent, or 4.77 points to 3,085.86 as at 9.01am.

This comes after Wall Street stocks tumbled overnight, hit by trade woes and a manufacturing contraction. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 1.1 per cent, the broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.7 per cent, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.1 per cent.

On the Singapore bourse, advancers outnumbered decliners 61 to 42, after about 21.4 million shares worth $43.6 million changed hands.

Among the most heavily traded by volume, Singtel lost 0.3 per cent, or one cent to $3.14, with 4.7 million shares traded, while OCBC Bank slipped 0.4 per cent, or four cents to $10.61, with some 324,000 shares traded.

The other two local banks posted gains - DBS inched up 0.08 per cent, or two cents to $24.37, and United Overseas Bank posted a 0.2 per cent, or five cent gain to $24.98.

Other active stocks included ESR-Reit (real estate investment trust) which declined almost one per cent, or 0.5 cent to 51 cents, and Jardine Matheson Holdings which fell 1.2 per cent, or 62 US cents to U$51.90.

Elsewhere, most Asian equities dipped early on Wednesday morning, after poor US economic data stoked global recession fears and unnerved investors. Japan's Topix lost 0.3 per cent as at 8.05am, and Australia stocks fell 0.6 per cent. Meanwhile, futures on the S&P 500 Index were flat. The underlying gauge sank 0.7 per cent on Tuesday.

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