Singapore shares open 0.44% down on Monday

SINGAPORE stocks dipped on Monday morning, as Asian stocks continued to face geopolitical pressures.

The Straits Times Index (STI) was down 14.05 points, or 0.44 per cent, at 3,155.19 as at 9.07am.

Some 97.3 million shares worth S$63.2 million changed hands. Losers beat gainers 122 to 49.

Top losers included Jardine Cycle & Carriage, City Developments, and United Overseas Bank.

Geopolitical tensions in the region remained the focus for investors worldwide, with US Vice-President Mike Pence touching down in South Korea on Monday amid heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula to kick off his four-nation tour of Asia.

Also, China will be releasing its first-quarter gross domestic product figure on Monday. Bloomberg reports that the world's second-largest economy is expected to have grown 6.8 per cent in the first three months of the year for a second straight quarter, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists, driven by higher property and producer prices.