SINGAPORE: Singapore stocks opened slightly lower Friday morning following Wall Street’s overnight slump.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) slipped 17.25 points to 2,817.46 in opening trade after closing down 1.8 per cent at 2,834.71 on Thursday.

87.3 million shares exchanged hands, with losers beating gainers 128 to 45.

US stocks ended a two-day rally with a nosedive on Thursday as higher oil prices and an unexpected rise in jobless claims coupled with fresh financial trouble at Citigroup.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped a hefty 224.64 points (1.93 per cent) to close at 11,431.43 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite dropped 22.64 points (0.95 per cent) to 2,355.73.

The broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 23.13 points (1.79 per cent) to finish at 1,266.06.

- CNA/yb