Singapore shares decline at Monday's open; STI down 0.7%

SINGAPORE stocks opened weaker on Monday, with Singapore's Straits Times Index headed down 0.7 per cent or 22.2 points to 2,988.88 as at 9.04am.

Losers outnumbered gainers 140 to 49, after 105.5 million securities worth S$143.5 million changed hands.

The most active counter was Mapletree Commercial Trust, which fell 0.5 per cent or S$0.01 to S$2.09, with 6.5 million shares traded.

Other heavily traded securities include Rex International, which decreased 2.6 per cent or 0.5 Singapore cent to 18.9 cents with six million shares traded, and Genting Singapore, which dropped 1.2 per cent or one Singapore cent to 80.5 cents, with 5.1 million shares traded. 

Banking stocks were in the red during early morning trade. DBS was trading down 0.3 per cent or S$0.08 to S$24.03 on a cum-dividend basis. UOB fell 1.4 per cent or S$0.35 to S$24.13 on a cum-dividend basis, while OCBC dropped 0.6 per cent or S$0.06 to S$10.54 on a cum-dividend basis. 

Other active index counters included Singtel which slipped 1 per cent or S$0.03 to S$2.97 and CapitaLand Mall Trust, which fell 1.3 per cent or S$0.03 to S$2.24. 

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Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Monday following falls the previous week as investors continue to worry over the virus outbreak. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 1.1 per cent to 20,912.16 in early trade, while the broader Topix index decreased 1.3 per cent to 1,491.88.