Singapore shares open lower as investors await China market's reopen; STI down 0.8%

SINGAPORE shares started the week lower, before the Chinese market reopens after an extended closure following the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.

US and Europe markets had closed in the red on Friday and the Singapore market followed suit on Monday, with the Straits Times Index losing 25.18 points or 0.8 per cent to 3,128.55 as at 9.05am.

Losers outnumbered gainers 167 to 34, after 238.2 million securities worth S$98.1 million changed hands.

MDR was the most traded counter by volume in the morning, unchanged at S$0.001 after 99.6 million shares were traded.

Other actives included Golden Agri-Resources which was down S$0.01 or 4.8 per cent to S$0.20 with 26.2 million shares changing hands, and Medtecs International which rose S$0.008 or 7.1 per cent to S$0.12 on 12.5 million shares traded.

Genting Singapore, the most traded counter by value, slipped S$0.005 or 0.6 per cent to S$0.855 on 5.6 million shares traded.

In banking stocks, DBS fell S$0.23 or 0.9 per cent to S$25.14, OCBC lost S$0.08 or 0.7 per cent to S$10.75, while UOB decreased S$0.14 or 0.6 per cent to S$25.52.

Wall Street stocks tumbled on Friday amid mounting fears that the coronavirus outbreak will significantly dent global growth.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average skidded 2.1 per cent, losing more than 600 points to finish the session at 28,256.03, the biggest decline since August.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 1.8 per cent to 3,225.52, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.6 per cent to 9,150.94.

In Europe, the pan-European Stoxx 600 ended 1.1 per cent lower, taking losses last week to 3 per cent for its worst week in almost six months. On the month, it lost 1.2 per cent - its worst January since 2016.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 1.64 per cent or 379.42 points to 22,825.76 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 1.52 per cent or 25.55 points at 1,658.89.