SINGAPORE stocks opened nearly flat on Friday (Feb 21) morning as global markets recorded declines overnight.
As at 9.03 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) was down 0.02 per cent or 0.68 point at 3,926.83. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 66 to 62 after 64.7 million securities worth S$118.4 million changed hands.
Foundation and geotechnical engineering specialist CSC Group was the most actively traded counter by volume. It was trading flat at S$0.01 with 6.4 million securities transacted.
Other actively traded counters included offshore and marine specialist Seatrium, which was trading down 2 per cent or S$0.05 at S$2.45, and oil exploration and production company Rex International, which was trading 11.2 per cent or S$0.024 lower at S$0.191.
Banking stocks were trading higher at the open. DBS advanced 0.3 per cent or S$0.12 to S$46.20. OCBC was up 0.2 per cent or S$0.04 at S$17.76, and UOB rose 0.2 per cent or S$0.06 to S$38.49.
Wall Street stocks finished Thursday lower as Walmart posted disappointing earnings, and banking shares declined amid a move analysts attribute to profit taking.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1 per cent to 44,176.65. The broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.4 per cent to 6,117.52, and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.5 per cent to 19,962.36.
In Europe, shares ended Thursday at a one-week low as investors took stock of corporate updates and anticipated upcoming German elections. The pan-European Stoxx 600 Index was down 0.2 per cent at 551.01.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
