Singapore stocks: STI resumes Monday afternoon down 1% on day

SINGAPORE stocks resumed trading in negative territory on Monday, with the Straits Times Index losing 31.69 points, or 1 per cent to 3,122.04 as at 1.01pm. 

Losers outnumbered gainers 337 to 95, after about 1.14 billion securities worth S$614.5 million changed hands. 

Among the most heavily traded by volume, Medtecs International gained 1.4 Singapore cents, or 12.5 per cent to 12.6 Singapore cents, with 122.6 million shares traded, while Golden Agri-Resources declined one Singapore cent, or 4.8 per cent to 20 Singapore cents, with 45.3 million shares traded. 

Banking stocks also faltered by the afternoon trade. DBS lost S$0.39, or 1.5 per cent to S$24.98, OCBC Bank slipped S$0.12, or 1.1 per cent to S$10.71, and United Overseas Bank dropped S$0.32, or 1.3 per cent to S$25.34.

Other active securities included Manulife US Reit which was down four US cents, or 3.8 per cent to US$1.02, and Mapletree Logistics Trust, which fell three Singapore cents, or 1.6 per cent to S$1.81. 

Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, Japan's Topix index lost 0.7 per cent and South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.1 per cent.

The Shanghai Composite Index plunged 8.1 per cent, as fears over the coronavirus outbreak drove a steep selloff in Chinese stocks, after markets reopened from the Chinese New Year break. 

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was little changed and Australian stocks dropped 1.2 per cent.