Singapore shares open lower on Monday; STI down 0.9% to 3,081.93

SINGAPORE shares opened lower on Monday with the Straits Times Index down 29.19 points to 3,081.93 as at 9.01am, as Asian stocks slid on heightened worries over trade tensions between the United States and China.

About 28.2 million shares worth S$68.2 million in total changed hands, with losers outnumbering gainers 100 to 34.

Among the most heavily traded by volume, Thomson Medical fell 0.1 Singapore cent or 1.28 per cent to 7.7 Singapore cents, with 5.5 million shares traded. Other actives included Ezion, down 0.1 Singapore cent or 1.75 per cent to 5.6 Singapore cents; Genting Singapore, down two Singapore cents or 2 per cent to 97 Singapore cents; and DBS, down 35 Singapore cents or 1.45 per cent to S$23.81.

On Friday, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said that US officials would raise tariff rates if the two countries could not come to an agreement during their 90-day negotiating period. There are also market worries that the arrest of Chinese telecom giant Huawei's chief financial officer at this time could undermine the trade talks.