Asian markets wound back on Thursday, in line with a hefty sell-off on Wall Street, after surprisingly weak US data hinted at ongoing weakness in the world's number one economy.
The euro maintained its recent strength against the dollar and yen, boosted by receding expectations of an early US rate hike and upbeat indicators out of the eurozone.
Oil prices also enjoyed support from concerns about unrest in the crude-rich Middle East following news that Saudi Arabian jets had struck rebel positions in neighbouring Yemen.
In early trade Tokyo sank 1.56 per cent from a 15-year high, while Sydney lost 1.30 per cent, Seoul shed 0.74 per cent, Hong Kong shed 0.30 per cent and Shanghai slipped 0.55 per cent.
SINGAPORE shares retreated in early Thursday trade on the back of losses on Wall Street and soft US economic data. The Straits Times Index dipped 0.31 per cent, or 10.64 points, to 3,408.38 as at 9.02am, wiping out Wednesday's feeble gain.
Among the most active counters were Ascendas Reit, which slid three Singapore cents to S$2.51 as at 9.03am, while Yuuzoo opened one cent higher at S$0.30. A total of 61.6 million shares worth S$109.5 million had changed hands as at 9.02am. Losers outnumbered gainers 83 to 44.
The Straits Times Index (STI) ended +5.76 points higher or +0.17% to 3419.02, taking the year-to-date performance to +1.60%.
The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index gained +0.38% while the FTSE ST Small Cap Index gained +0.48%. The top active stocks were SingTel (+0.70%), UOB (+0.61%), DBS (-0.05%), Keppel Corp (+1.13%) and OCBC Bank (+0.29%).
The outperforming sectors today were represented by the FTSE ST Utilities Index (+3.48%). The two biggest stocks of the FTSE ST Utilities Index are United Envirotech (+0.31%) and Hyflux (+1.14%). The underperforming sector was the FTSE ST Real Estate Holding and Development Index, which declined -0.33% with Hongkong Land Holdings’ share price declining -0.94% and Global Logistic Properties’ share price gaining +0.78%.
The three most active Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) by value today were the SPDR Gold Shares (+0.05%), iShares S&P500 Ivv (-0.90%), IS MSCI India (-1.14%).
The three most active Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) by value were CapitaMall Trust (-0.46%), Ascendas REIT (-0.78%), Keppel REIT (-0.42%).
The most active index warrants by value today were HSI24400MBeCW150429 (+8.94%), HSI25000MBeCW150429 (+8.86%), HSI24800MBeCW150528 (+8.33%).
The most active stock warrants by value today were DBS MB eCW150915 (+1.20%), UOB MB eCW150701 (+4.51%), KepCorp MBeCW150901 (+6.67%).