SINGAPORE shares opened muted on Wednesday (Dec 11) following weak trade figures from China and ahead of key inflation data in the US.
As at 9.01 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) inched up 0.16 point to 3,813.71. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 46 to 45, after 46.8 million securities worth S$82.4 million changed hands.
Genting Singapore, one of the most actively traded counters in terms of volume, was trading flat at S$0.775, with 9.5 million shares transacted.
Shares of Thai Beverage were briskly traded as well, gaining 1.8 per cent or S$0.01 to S$0.575. Yangzijiang Shipbuilding also was up 1.9 per cent or S$0.05 at S$2.76.
The three local banks were mixed in the morning. UOB dropped 0.2 per cent or S$0.07 to S$37.08. DBS also declined 0.3 per cent or S$0.14 to S$43.86. OCBC rose 0.7 per cent or S$0.12 to S$16.85.
Wall Street finished lower on Tuesday as markets paused from a post-election rally, while Google’s parent company Alphabet surged on what it called a “major” technology announcement.
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Following the announcement of Google’s new quantum computing chip – described as a significant breakthrough in the field that could lead to advances in drug discovery, fusion energy and other areas – Alphabet jumped 5.3 per cent.
Over the last two days, US stocks have fallen amid caution ahead of key inflation data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down by 0.4 per cent at 44,247.83 points. The broad-based S&P 500 declined 0.3 per cent to 6,034.91, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite index also fell 0.3 per cent to 19,687.24.
The losses come ahead of Thursday’s consumer price index, which will be closely scrutinised by the Federal Reserve. The US central bank is also expected to cut interest rates later this month.
In Europe, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 0.5 per cent at 518.49 points, and France’s CAC 40 lost 1.1 per cent, falling the most among major European economies.
This is amid luxury stocks leading declines after weak trade data out of China, while investors awaited a policy decision by the European Central Bank later in the week.
Data reflected China’s exports slowing sharply and imports unexpectedly shrinking in November, a worrying sign for the world’s No 2 economy.
