Singapore shares open almost flat on Monday; STI down 0.02%

SINGAPORE stocks began Monday (Sep 30) on a muted note, as global equities ended mixed over the weekend.

As at 9.01 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) was down 0.02 per cent or 0.73 point at 3,572.63. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 67 to 47 after 49.6 million securities worth S$40.4 million changed hands.

Chinese sweet potato biotech-focused value chain operator Zixin was the most actively traded counter by volume. It was up 20 per cent or S$0.005 at S$0.03 with 11.1 million securities changing hands.

Other actively traded counters included resort and casino operator Genting Singapore, which rose 1.2 per cent or S$0.01 to S$0.875 and investment holding company Alset International which gained 10 per cent or S$0.003 to S$0.033.

Banking stocks were mixed in early morning trade. DBS rose 0.1 per cent or S$0.04 to S$37.64, while UOB fell 0.8 per cent or S$0.27 to S$31.95. OCBC dropped 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$15.10.

Wall Street stocks ended mixed on Friday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high while the Nasdaq and S&P indices ended lower yet close to recent record highs amid a subdued inflation report stoking hopes for more Federal Reserve rate cuts.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3 per cent or 137.89 points to 42,313. The broad-based S&P 500 edged slightly lower by 0.1 per cent or 7.2 points to 5,738.17 and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.4 per cent or 70.7 points to 18,119.59.

European equities hit a record high, boosted by China’s slew of stimulus measures and growing conviction that US and Euro-area interest rates will fall further in the coming months. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.5 per cent or 2.47 points to 528.08.