Singapore shares open flat on Tuesday

SINGAPORE share prices opened a marginal 0.03 per cent lower on Tuesday, with the Straits Times Index down 0.84 point to 2,665.67 at 9am.

On Wall Street, US stocks finished a choppy session lower on Monday, in a move attributed to profit-taking after mostly gains in the last two weeks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 123.47 points (0.74 per cent) to 16,516.50. The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 15.82 (0.81 per cent) to 1,932.23, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 32.52 (0.71 per cent) to 4,557.95.

In Asia, Tokyo shares opened flat on Tuesday following a weak lead from Wall Street and as a stronger yen weighed on exporters.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange ticked 0.08 points higher to 16,026.84 shortly after the opening bell.

The broader Topix index of all first-section shares edged down 0.16 per cent, or 2.04 points, to 1,295.81.

On Singapore's bourse, Tuesday's most active counters were palm oil plantation company Golden Agri-Resources (flat at S$0.37); offshore oil and gas contractor Ezra Holdings (up 3.1 per cent to S$0.066); and telco Singtel (down 0.3 per cent to S$3.72).

Overall on the stock market, 70.7 million shares worth S$231.4 million changed hands, with gainers outnumbering losers 64 to 47 as at 9am.