Singapore shares slide on heightened virus jitters; STI down 7.9% at open

SINGAPORE stocks plunged at the start of the week, after the Republic reported its first two deaths related to the Covid-19 outbreak over the weekend and shut its borders to all short-term visitors.

The benchmark Strait Times Index headed down 6.9 per cent or 165.68 points to 2,245.06 as at 9.03am on Monday. By 9.06am, it had tumbled further to 2,219.98, down 7.9 per cent or 190.76 points.

Losers outnumbered gainers 208 to 26, after 103.3 million securities worth S$166.7 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was Rex International, which fell 14.3 per cent or 1.4 Singapore cents to 8.4 Singapore cents after 6.5 million shares changing hands as at 9.04am.

Other heavily traded securities included ESR-Reit, which tumbled 9.3 per cent or 2.5 Singapore cents to 24.5 Singapore cents, with 3.7 million shares changing hands. Genting Singapore declined 11.2 per cent or 6.5 Singapore cents to 51.5 Singapore cents on 3.6 million shares traded.

Banking stocks were in a sea of red, along with the bulk of the index constituents. As at 9.04am, DBS tumbled 7.4 per cent or S$1.35 to S$16.81 on a cum-dividend basis, UOB dived 8.2 per cent or S$1.55 to S$17.41 on a cum-dividend basis, while OCBC dropped 6 per cent or S$0.50 to S$7.86 on a cum-dividend basis.

Other active index counters included the Singapore Exchange which fell 7.4 per cent or S$0.64 to S$8.03 and Singtel which shed 7.9 per cent or S$0.19 to S$2.22.

Singapore's Health Ministry on Saturday reported that two Covid-19 patients had died due to complications, the first deaths the Republic has seen. On Sunday, the health ministry announced it will close its borders to all short-term visitors to reduce importation of Covid-19 cases, a move which would further squeeze the aviation and tourism industries as well as the broader economy, according to economists.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Monday, as the market saw support after a relatively cheaper yen against the US dollar. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.6 per cent to 16,813.43 in early trade, while the Topix index rose 0.6 per cent to 1,290.99.