Singapore shares

SINGAPORE: Singapore shares opened lower on Tuesday (April 8) morning after the sell-off on Monday. However, the worst of the fallout seems to be over — for now. The Straits Times Index (STI) slipped 0.4%, or 12.3 points, to 3,528.2 shortly after trading started, The Business Times reported.

In the broader market, 189 stocks were down while 66 gained after 216.9 million shares valued at S$434.9 million were traded.

This came after the STI dropped 8.5% on Monday, plunging more than 325 points, which The Straits Times described as the largest intraday loss since the 8.9% plunge during the Oct 24, 2008, global financial crisis. It also exceeded the Covid-19 sell-off on March 23, 2020, when the STI declined 8.4%.

At Tuesday’s open, Singtel led in trading volume but stayed flat at S$3.36 after 13.6 million shares were traded. Oceanus, a food distributor, also saw strong volume, trading flat at S$0.005 with 11 million shares exchanged.

Maritime stocks, which were among the biggest losers on Monday, led gains on Tuesday morning. Seatrium rose 4.2% to S$1.73. Sembcorp increased 3.6% to S$6, while Yangzijiang Shipbuilding added 3.1% to S$1.98.

Banking stocks continued to drop. DBS slipped 0.9% to S$38.92. OCBC fell 1.6% to S$15.22, while UOB dropped 0.6% to S$33.02.

On Wall Street, US stocks ended mostly lower after a volatile session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.9% to 37,965.6. The S&P 500 edged down 0.2% to 5,062.25. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index managed a small gain of 0.1%, closing at 15,603.26.

Markets in the US had briefly bounced back after reports suggested Mr Trump might pause the tariffs for 90 days, but the downward spiral resumed after the White House denied those claims.

In Europe, also, stocks slid. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index dropped 4.5% to 474.01 — its lowest since January 2024 and its fourth straight day of losses. Germany’s main index also fell 4.3%.