Singapore: Shares open slightly lower on Monday

SINGAPORE share prices opened lower on Monday with the Straits Times Index (STI) down 1.09 points or 0.03 per cent to 3,486.30 at 9.04am, despite the Wall Street climbing more than one per cent on Friday.

The weak opening follows the sluggish start on Monday for Asian stocks in a packed week for global economic news that is bookended by the US jobs report, a key input into the Federal Reserve's decision on when to start lifting interest rates.

Monday's awaited Australian inflation report shows there is room for the Reserve Bank of Australia to implement a further rate cut, while South Korea's manufacturing sector continues to contract this year as a gauge of activity in the sector fell to a six-month low.

Top gainers in early-morning trade included UOB, Keppel Corporation and Straco.

Some 92 million shares worth S$75.4 million changed hands, with losers outnumbering gainers 81 to 78.