Singapore shares open 1% lower on Monday

SINGAPORE shares opened lower on Monday amid a lack of strong buying catalysts following a retreat on Wall Street last Friday amid receding oil prices.

As at 9.02am, the Straits Times Index was down 29.77 points or one per cent at 2,894.17.

Some 76.7 million shares worth S$67.8 million changed hands. Losers outnumbered gainers 110 to 41.

Oil and gas counters were among the first to come under selling pressures. Ezra Holdings slipped 5.8 per cent to 9.8 Singapore cents, Rex International fell 6.1 per cent to 10.8 Singapore cents, and Technics Oil & Gas slid 4.8 per cent to 17.8 Singapore cents.