Singapore stocks slip at Friday's open; STI falls 0.3%

SINGAPORE shares struggled to advance at Friday's open, with a public holiday in the US overnight meaning no fresh leads for investors to follow.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) retreated 7.21 points or 0.3 per cent to 2,850.27 as at 9am.

This comes as local stocks took a hit on Thursday, with an unexpected 0.9 per cent year-on-year fall in the Republic's factory output for October weighing on sentiment.

On the Singapore bourse, gainers edged out losers 55 to 45, after 32.4 million securities worth S$25.4 million changed hands.

Among index securities, the most heavily traded was Thai Beverage Public Co (ThaiBev), which gained one Singapore cent or 1.3 per cent to 75.5 cents, with 5.3 million shares traded.

In a post-earnings conference call on Thursday evening, ThaiBev said it does not expect a huge jump in sales in the months ahead as the pandemic's impact lingers. That said, the beverage giant is looking to enhance its competitive edge through a wider range of product offerings.

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Banking stocks were mostly down in early trade. UOB dipped S$0.10 or 0.4 per cent to S$22.97, OCBC fell S$0.04 or 0.4 per cent to S$10.03, while DBS was flat at S$25.50.

Other active securities include Mapletree Logistics Trust, which shed S$0.02 or 1 per cent to S$1.95.

Meanwhile, medtech firm Biolidics soared 5.5 Singapore cents or 17.7 per cent to 36.5 cents. This comes after the Catalist-listed company said it has received the green light from the authorities to distribute and use Covid-19 antibody test kits in Indonesia. In another filing on Thursday, Biolidics announced that it will distribute Chinese biotech firm JOYSBIO (Tianjin) Biotechnology's Covid-19 antigen rapid test kits.

Over in the US, financial markets were closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.

European shares closed little changed on Thursday, as an extension of coronavirus restrictions in Germany and a grim growth forecast for the UK brought the focus back to the near-term economic damage caused by the pandemic. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index finished 0.1 per cent lower, with gains in tech and healthcare offset by declines in automobile and energy shares.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo shares opened flat on Friday, as a rise in new coronavirus cases in Japan weighed on the market. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.01 per cent or 2.9 points to 26,534.41 in early trade, while the broader Topix index gained 0.2 per cent or 3.84 points to 1,782.09.