Tokyo (Nikkei Average NIK, +0.01% ) up 0.1%
Hong Kong (Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.49% ) up 0.5% (at break)
Shanghai (Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, +1.82% ) up 1.8% (at break)
Sydney (S&P/ASX 200 XJO, -0.23% ) down 0.2%
Seoul (Kospi SEU, +0.21% ) up 0.2%
Mumbai (Sensex 1, -0.08% ) flat
Taipei (Taiex Y9999, -0.31% ) down 0.2%
SINGAPORE share prices opened lower on Monday with the Straits Times Index (STI) down 0.75 points to 3,362.02 as at 9.04am, tracing losses in the US markets.
Top gainers in early trading included UOB, while top losers included its peers DBS and OCBC.
Banks have underperformed since the start of the year due to profit-taking and concerns about an economic slowdown and higher credit costs, noted a Nomura report dated March 12.
"We believe that while some of these concerns are warranted, the market has ignored the very positive impact of rising short-term interest rates. In our opinion, this is the single most important catalyst for these banks at this stage of the cycle, as it offers them significant operating leverage," the brokerage said.
Some 61.8 million shares worth S$92.6 million changed hands as at 9.04am on Monday, with losers outnumbering gainers 91 to 57.
The euro lost more than 3% of its value against the buck for the second straight week Friday, as the dollar’s eight-month rally resumed.
The euro EURUSD, -1.32% traded as low as $1.0465, its weakest level since January 2003, while the pound GBPUSD, -0.94% traded as low as $1.4700, its lowest level since June 2010, before both currencies staged a slight recovery. The euro traded at $1.0634 late Thursday, while the pound traded at $1.4849.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, +0.91% a measure of the dollar’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was up 0.76% to 100.1900 in recent trade.
