Singapore shares opened lower on Tuesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street as escalating tensions between the United States and Iran dampened global risk appetite and fuelled concerns over higher energy prices.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) fell 28.33 points, or 0.52%, to 5,442.01 as at 9.13am.
Market breadth was negative, with 138 decliners outnumbering 74 gainers, while 79.89 million securities worth S$227.98 million changed hands.
Among the index heavyweights, DBS slipped 0.17% to S$70.67. OCBC traded at S$27.36, while UOB stood at S$43.75. Singapore Exchange was at S$24.00, Singapore Airlines at S$7.53, Sembcorp Industries at S$5.52 and Keppel at S$11.25.
In the derivatives market, the FTSE China A50 Index Futures for July traded at 14,764.00 with a volume of 5,210 contracts as at 9.04am.
Investor sentiment remained cautious after Wall Street ended broadly lower overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.26%, the S&P 500 lost 0.79% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.55% as renewed US-Iran hostilities pushed oil prices higher and sparked a sell-off in technology and semiconductor stocks.
Market participants are also watching a busy week of catalysts, including testimony by US Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, key US inflation data and the start of the second-quarter earnings season led by major US banks.
