Singapore shares open down as expected but losses substantially smaller vs Wall Street’s Friday tumble, says Dow Jones.

STI off 0.5% at 2,942.26, with support at 2900. Market breadth at five decliners for every gainer.

“Whether investors will avoid the market fueled by fear of poor economic data or charge into the market motivated by optimism over strong earnings is really hard to tell (in the near term),” says head of Sias Research Roger Tan; but notes potential downside risk as recent gains have pushed STI near 3,000 level, last reached in April.

Among blue chips, notable decliners include CapitaMalls Asia (JS8.SG), off 1.5% at $2.03, SembMarine (S51.SG), off 1.0% at $3.89, DBS (D05.SG), off 1.0% at $14.66.