SINGAPORE shares made a small recovery at Tuesday's open, after the Straits Times Index (STI) tumbled 8.3 per cent on Monday, its largest single-day fall since Oct 24, 2008.

The STI rose 3.7 per cent or 83.64 points to 2,317.12 as at 9.05am on Tuesday.

Gainers outnumbered losers 150 to 40, after 65.7 million securities worth S$124.1 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was Rex International, which rose 7.1 per cent or 0.6 Singapore cent to 9.1 cents, with 7.2 million shares traded. Other heavily traded securities include Singtel, which increased 5.3 per cent or S$0.12 to S$2.40, with six million shares traded and Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust, which was up 6.6 per cent or S$0.15 to S$2.44, with 4.5 million shares traded.

Banking stocks rose in early morning trade. DBS was trading up 3.1 per cent or S$0.53 at S$17.41 on a cum-dividend basis, UOB rose 2.8 per cent or S$0.49 to S$18.06 on a cum-dividend basis, while OCBC Bank increased 4.1 per cent or S$0.32 to S$8.13 on a cum-dividend basis.

Other active index counters included the Singapore Exchange, which moved up 3.6 per cent or S$0.29 to S$8.41 and Singapore Airlines, which fell 0.2 per cent or S$0.01 to S$5.35.

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Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened stronger on Tuesday, supported by a weak yen. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.9 per cent to 17,201.91, while the broader Topix index was up 1.5 per cent to 1,310.76.

In the US, Wall Street stocks closed weaker on Monday amid partisan bickering over a giant stimulus package as the Federal Reserve announced new emergency measures. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 3 per cent, or nearly 600 points, to 18,591.93. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 sank 2.9 per cent to 2,237.40, while the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.3 per cent to 6,860.67.

European shares fell again on Monday amid panic over economic shock from the continued spread of the novel coronavirus. The benchmark Stoxx 600 index ended 4.3 per cent lower, erasing nearly all of its gains over the past two days.