Singapore shares open slightly higher on Monday; STI up 0.1% to 3,115.92

SINGAPORE shares inched up after trading began on Monday amid fresh uncertainty over Britain's Brexit deal. The Straits Times Index gained 0.06 per cent, or 1.76 points to 3,115.92 as at 9.03am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 65 to 45, after about 25.9 million shares worth S$45.7 million changed hands.

Among the most heavily traded by volume, Rex International was flat at 9.3 Singapore cents with 2.4 million shares traded, while Keppel Infrastructure Trust lost 1.8 per cent, or one cent to 54 cents on an ex-dividend basis, with 1.1 million shares traded.

Banking stocks were mostly down in the early morning trade - DBS lost 0.1 per cent, or three Singapore cents to S$24.75; United Overseas Bank slipped 0.1 per cent, or three cents to S$25.79, and OCBC Bank was flat at S$10.74.

Other active index stocks included CapitaLand Mall Trust which fell 0.4 per cent, or one cent to S$2.63, and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding which gained 1.1 per cent, or one cent to 95 cents.

Elsewhere, Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at Oanda noted that the US earnings season continues this week after Wall Street closed with a whimper on Friday.

Closer to home in Asia, equities were mixed as investors began with a cautious start to the week, while the British pound fell as Boris Johnson's Brexit deal hangs in the balance.

Japan's Topix added 0.3 per cent, Australian stocks fell 0.2 per cent, and South Korea's Kospi was flat.