Singapore shares open 1% lower after markets tumble globally on China fears

SINGAPORE shares opened down 1.01 per cent or 28.62 points at 2,814.77, following in the not-so-brilliant footsteps of other Asian bourses.

At 09.01am, more than 82 million shares worth S$116.6 million were traded, with 29 gainers to 186 losers.

Following a bruising day in the financial markets on Monday, Japan's Nikkei 225 is down 3.7 per cent, while the broader Topix index is down 4.3 per cent.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 is down one per cent, doing better than the 3.7 per cent drop the futures market was looking for.

Meanwhile, Korea's Kospi is down 1.1 per cent and New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 is down 2.2 per cent.

The gloomy openings come on the back of mounting worries over China's economy, which triggered a global market selloff on Monday.

The Straits Times Index fell 4.3 per cent to close at 2,843.39 on Monday, the first time since the height of the 2008 global financial crisis that such a large percentage was wiped out.

The Shanghai Composite dropped 8.5 per cent on Monday, its worst day since February 2007, triggering the market turmoil.

US stocks finished sharply lower on Monday, but far above the session's floor. The broad-based S&P 500 tumbled 77.68 points (3.94 per cent) to 1,893.21, pushing the index into "correction" territory, normally defined as a loss of 10 per cent or more.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 588.47 (3.58 per cent) to 15,871.28, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 179.79 (3.82 per cent) at 4,526.25.