Singapore shares open lower after US stocks slide

SINGAPORE share prices opened lower on Monday with the Straits Times Index down by 35 points or 1.24 per cent to 2,787.97 points as at 9.01am, after a steep slide in US stocks on Friday on Brexit fears and a drop in oil prices.

A wave of selling on Wall Street wiped out most of the market's gains from earlier last week. This comes on the heels of a poll showing Britain may be more likely to leave the European Union.

Not helping is a drop in oil prices following a second straight weekly climb in US oil-rig count, according to data from Baker Hughes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 119.85 points, or 0.7 per cent lower, at 17,865.34.

Brent settled down US$1.41 at US$50.54, the largest drop in a month.

West Texas Intermediate futures fell US$49.07, down 3 per cent, the largest slide since early April.

Some 63.4 million shares worth S$57.3 million changed hands, with losers outnumbering gainers 116 to 28.