S'pore shares reel on fears of trade war

SINGAPORE shares, along with its regional peers, kicked off the week lower as US President Donald Trump drags the world into a showdown over trade, while Italy seems headed for a hung parliament.

Italy faces a prolonged period of political instability after voters delivered a hung parliament on Sunday, spurning traditional parties and flocking to anti-establishment and far-right groups in record numbers.

Mr Trump, who has decided to slap a 25 per cent tariff on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminium, fuelled nervousness as he continued his rampage on America's trading partners over the weekend. He vowed to slap tariffs o…