Singapore shares open flat on Monday

SINGAPORE stocks opened flat on Monday morning, with the Straits Times Index up 0.03 per cent, or 0.97 point, to 2,918.88.

A total of 39.6 million shares changed hands in the opening minutes of trade. As at 9.01am, S$40.1 million worth of shares were bought and sold. Gainers outnumbered losers 56 to 43.

Elsewhere, Asian shares got off to a slow start as a holiday in Japan sapped liquidity. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was all but flat, while South Korea's main index gained 0.2 per cent.

The Dow had ended Friday up 0.51 per cent, while the S&P 500 added 0.38 per cent and the Nasdaq 0.62 per cent.