SINGAPORE shares fell at the opening bell on Friday (Apr 5), despite broader regional gains, tracking overnight losses in the US market.

As at 9.01 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) shed 25.9 points or 0.8 per cent to 3,209.11. Across the broader market, decliners outnumbered advancers 89 to 31 after 62.9 million securities worth S$57.8 million changed hands. 

Seatrium : S51 0% was the most heavily traded counter by volume. The counter remained unchanged at S$0.085 after 25.2 million securities were transacted. 

Other counters that were briskly traded included Singtel : Z74 0%, which declined S$0.04 or 1.7 per cent after four million shares were moved, and Thomson Medical, : A50 0% which traded flat at S$0.054 after 2.4 million securities changed hands. 

Banking stocks were in the red in early trade. DBS : D05 0% sank S$0.59 or 1.6 per cent to S$35.73. OCBC : O39 0% shed S$0.07 or 0.5 per cent to S$13.69, and UOB : U11 0% was down S$0.28 or 1 per cent at S$29.18.

Over on Wall Street, US indices took a dive on Thursday, following a rise in oil prices, which analysts attributed to worries over tensions and conflicts in the Middle East. 

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The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index closed 1.4 per cent lower to 16,049.08, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1.4 per cent to 38,596.98. The broad-based S&P 500 also retreated 1.2 per cent to 5,147.21.

In Europe, shares eked out a gain on Thursday, boosted by cyclical sectors such as miners and automakers. Investors were also encouraged by signals of recovery in the eurozone economy amid better inflation management. The pan-European Stoxx 600 inched up 0.2 per cent to 510.84.