The Singapore stock market has finished lower in four straight trading days, sinking almost 70 points or 2.3 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,165-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the red again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asianmarketsis broadly negative on fears of lockdown measures following the rapid spread of a new COVID variant. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.
The STI finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.
For the day, the index tumbled 55.25 points or 1.72 percent to finish at 3,166.27 after trading between 3,153.71 and 3,208.13. Volume was 2 billion shares worth 1.8 billion Singapore dollars. There were 406 decliners and 138 gainers.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT lost 1.31 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust tumbled 2.67 percent, City Developments dipped 0.98 percent, Comfort DelGro retreated 2.00 percent, Dairy Farm International was down 0.62 percent, DBS Group stumbled 1.68 percent, Genting Singapore plummeted 4.22 percent, Keppel Corp and SembCorp Industries both dropped 1.49 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust shed 1.40 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust slid 1.03 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation weakened 1.62 percent, SATS declined 2.21 percent, Singapore Airlines plunged 3.81 percent, Singapore Exchange slipped 0.76 percent, Singapore Press Holdings eased 0.43 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering skidded 1.79 percent, SingTel fell 1.21 percent, Thai Beverage tanked 2.80 percent, United Overseas Bank slumped 1.63 percent, Wilmar International surrendered 2.31 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding sank 1.52 percent.
The lead from Wall Street suggests heavy selling pressure as the major averages opened sharpy lower on Friday and remained that way throughout the session.