Singapore shares open 0.86% lower on Tuesday

SINGAPORE shares opened lower on Tuesday, amid mixed directions given for US monetary policy and slumping oil prices.

The benchmark Straits Times Index fell 24.32 points or 0.86 per cent to 2,811.03 as at 9.04am. Some 103.5 million shares worth S$99.1 million changed hands, with losers outnumbering gainers 80 to 48.

Among the most heavily traded stocks was OSIM International, whose chairman and CEO Ron Sim raised his offer price to take the firm private from S$1.32 to S$1.39 a share.

Oil-related counters were also in active trading, with Noble Group, Ezra Holdings and Keppel Corp all falling at the opening.

Oil prices had fallen to one-month lows as investors doubted that oil-producing countries would freeze output to address the global glut.