Singapore shares decline at Tuesday's open; STI down 0.1% to 3,168.4

SINGAPORE shares inched lower on Tuesday, with the Straits Times Index retreating 2.37 points, or 0.07 per cent to 3,168.40 as at 9.02am.

Gainers and losers were roughly evenly matched at 46 to 45, after about 19.2 million securities worth S$23.1 million exchanged hands.

Among the most heavily traded counters by volume, Mapletree Logistics Trust gained 0.7 per cent, or one Singapore cent to S$1.50, with 3.6 million shares traded; while CapitaLand Retail China Trust was flat at S$1.50, with two million shares traded.

Other active stocks included Thai Bev which lost 1.2 per cent, or one Singapore cent to S$0.795, and SGX which was down 1.1 per cent or eight cents to S$7.54.

Separately, Asian equities chalked modest gains by the opening bell, after a muted session on Monday that saw trading volumes well off typical levels due to market closures in the US and the UK. Benchmark indices in Japan, Australia and South Korea added 0.2 per cent as at 9.06am in Tokyo.

US markets were closed overnight due to the Memorial Day holiday, while the London stock exchange was closed for its Spring Bank holiday.

In addition, US President Donald Trump's declaration Monday that the US was "not ready" to reach a trade deal with China had little impact on Asian markets, with the yuan continuing to stabilise in the wake of losses earlier this month, data from Bloomberg shows.

Elsewhere, shares in Europe ticked higher overnight as investors were broadly relieved by initial results from the parliamentary elections that suggested pro-European Union parties had held their ground.