Singapore shares close nearly 1% down

SHARE prices in the Singapore bourse fell on Friday, alongside other regional markets, with the key Straits Times Index shedding 34.65 points or nearly 1 per cent to finish at 3,479.2.

Some 2.3 billion shares worth S$1.3 billion exchanged hands versus Thursday's 2.2 billion shares worth S$1.5 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers with 295 counters down and 170 counters up.

The losses across the region were fuelled over worries over a trade war and higher goods prices after US President Donald Trump vowed to impose import tariffs on steel and aluminium products.

Mr Trump's tariff remarks had led to a sell-off in US stocks overnight Thursday; the Dow Jones Industrial average fell 1.7 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the S&P 500 fell around 1.3 per cent.