Singapore shares slump on Tuesday; STI plummets 1.41% to 3,149.61

SINGAPORE shares continued Monday's bank-led slide on Tuesday, with the Straits Times Index diving 44.90 points or 1.41 per cent to 3,149.61 as at 9.03am following big slumps in the US and Europe markets last night.

About 99 million shares worth about S$133 million changed hands, which worked out to an average unit price of about S$1.34 per share.

A sea of red saw losers far outnumbering gainers 204 to 22.

The most actively traded security was Health Management International, which was down S$0.005 or 0.7 per cent to S$0.715 with 10.2 million shares changing hands. Other actives included Genting Singapore and ESR-Reit.

Among financials, all three local banks slid with DBS down S$0.37 or 1.5 per cent to S$24.92; OCBC shares dropped S$0.13 or 1.2 per cent to S$10.95 and UOB was down S$0.31 or 1.2 per cent to S$25.60.

Among other index stocks, Singtel was trading down S$0.03 or 0.9 per cent to S$3.27 with two million shares changing hands. Meanwhile, Ascendas Reit units were down S$0.02 or 0.7 per cent to S$3.04.

Wall Street stocks plunged on Monday after a forceful response by Beijing to the latest US tariff announcement escalated an ongoing trade war, exacerbating global growth worries.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 2.9 per cent to 25,718.01, its worst session of the year.

The broad-based S&P 500 slumped 3.0 per cent to 2,844.73, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 3.6 per cent to 7,726.04.

In Europe, shares sank to a two-month low on Monday as a global selloff spurred by trade tensions deepened, sending China's yuan to its lowest in more than a decade and sinking trade-sensitive mining, luxury and technology stocks.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 2.3 per cent, which, taking into account Friday's losses, made for the biggest two-day drop in more than three years as traders dumped shares in favour of perceived safe-havens like government bonds.