Singapore shares open 0.3 per cent down on Monday

THE local market opened 0.3 per cent lower as at 9.02am on Monday, with the Straits Times Index retreating 8.22 points to 3,022.39 ahead of the release of China economic data.

This was despite Wall Street having finished higher on Friday last week, as investors grew more optimistic that the Federal Reserve would delay its interest rate hike until after the end of 2015.

About 64 million shares worth S$40 million in total changed hands in the first couple of minutes, which worked out to an average unit price of S$0.62 per share.

The most actively traded stock was New Silkroutes, which was flat at S$0.001 with 16.1 million shares changing hands. Other actives included Polaris and Noble Group.

Gainers outnumbered losers 88 to 44, or two up for every one down.