Singapore shares open sharply lower on Wednesday amid US-Iran tensions; STI down 1.23%

SINGAPORE shares opened sharply lower on Wednesday amid rising geopolitical tensions. The US said Iran had fired "more than a dozen" ballistic missiles at 5.30pm (2230 GMT) on Jan 7 against two airbases in Iraq where US and coalition forces are based.

Singapore's Straits Times Index tumbled 39.82 points or 1.23 per cent to 3,208.04 as at 9.03am.

Losers outnumbered gainers 175 to 24, after 147.6 million securities worth S$120.1 million changed hands.

Watch-listed AusGroup was the most traded counter by volume in the morning, unchanged at S$0.055 after 24.9 million shares were traded.

Other actives included Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, which fell S$0.03 or 2.5 per cent to S$1.16 on 11.1 million shares traded, and Marco Polo Marine, down S$0.001 or 3.9 per cent to S$0.025 after 10.2 million shares changed hands.

All three local banks lost ground in early trade, as DBS fell S$0.36 or 1.4 per cent to S$25.69, OCBC lost S$0.19 or 1.7 per cent to S$10.81, and UOB slid S$0.39 or 1.5 per cent to S$26.31.

US stocks had already closed lower on Tuesday amid volatility caused by the US killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, and before it was reported Iran had fired missiles at Iraq airbases where US troops were based.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.4 per cent to close at 28,583.68, the broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.3 per cent to finish at 3,237.18, but the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dipped only a fraction to 9,068.58.

In Europe, the pan-regional Stoxx 600 index finished a volatile session 0.2 per cent higher.

Tokyo stocks also slid at the open, as the benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 1.57 per cent or 370.40 points to 23,205.32 while the broader Topix index was down 1.35 per cent or 23.32 points at 1,701.73.