Singapore shares open lower on Wednesday; STI down 1.8% to 3,456.42

SINGAPORE stocks opened lower on Wednesday, with the Straits Times Index falling 1.8 per cent or 62.06 points to 3,456.42 as at 9.04am.

The local bourse was not spared from regional turmoil as Asian equities slid on Wednesday on concerns of Italy's political turmoil and the renewal of trade tensions between the US and China which gripped financial markets.

Losers outnumbered gainers 145 to 38, as about 82.1 million shares worth S$134.5 million in total changed hands.

The most actively traded counter was Golden Agri-Resources, which was flat at S$0.305 with 6.8 million shares changing hands. Other actives included YZJ Shipbuilding, down 3.16 per cent with 6.64 million shares traded and Ezion, also down 3.33 per cent with 5.34 million shares traded.

Active index stocks included DBS at S$28.52, down 2.16 per cent or S$0.63, and Singtel at S$3.31, retreating 0.6 per cent or S$0.02.

On Wall Street overnight, stocks fell on Tuesday, with bank shares diving, as worries about Italian political turmoil sparked a selloff in leading global equity markets.

The declines in US markets followed falls of more than 1 per cent in leading European bourses as Italy's caretaker prime minister ended talks on forming a government without unveiling his cabinet line-up, following the collapse of a populist coalition's bid to govern, according to AFP reporting.

Stocks fell in Tokyo, Sydney and Seoul.