SINGAPORE shares started trading in positive territory on Wednesday (Aug 21), mirroring overnight gains in the global markets.
As at 9.04 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) inched down 0.1 per cent or 1.77 points to 3,368.54. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 72 to 60, after 58.4 million securities worth S$68.2 million changed hands.
In-flight caterer Sats was the top gainer on the STI by volume. The counter was up 8.1 per cent or S$0.26 at S$3.48, with 3.8 million shares traded. The night before, it posted a net profit of S$65 million for the first quarter ended Jun 30, from a loss of S$29.9 million over the same period a year earlier.
Seatrium also recorded significant trading activity, rising 0.7 per cent or S$0.01 to S$1.43. Shares of Genting Singapore fell 0.6 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.815.
The trio of local banks opened the trading day mixed. DBS rose 0.1 per cent or S$0.03 to S$35.88. UOB fell 0.3 per cent or S$0.09 to S$30.70, while OCBC remained unchanged at S$14.38.
Wall Street stocks slipped on Tuesday after an earlier rally supported by strong retail sales figures and a cooler inflation report, as investors look towards a speech from the US Federal Reserve chief later this week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2 per cent to 40,834.97, while the broad-based S&P 500 Index retreated by the same amount to 5,597.12. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.3 per cent to 17,816.94.
Meanwhile, Europe’s main stock index snapped a five-day winning streak on Tuesday, dragged down by heavyweight energy stocks, with investors sizing up domestic economic data. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed 0.5 per cent lower at 512.27, erasing early gains and easing from the near-three-week-high level hit earlier in the day.
