Singapore shares started the day lower after US and European markets ended mostly in the red overnight, as a liquidity crisis faced by Credit Suisse sparked fears across trading floors.

The Straits Times Index shed 0.9 per cent in early trade to 3,143.43 points as 48.2 million securities changed hands.

In terms of companies to watch, we have Prudential. The insurer yesterday posted profit from continuing operations of US$998 million for FY2022. That’s down 54 per cent from the previous year due to a decline in profit from its Indonesia segment.

Meanwhile, the global financial sector continues to be in focus after signs of trouble at Swiss lender Credit Suisse sent traders running for the hills.

On Market View, the Drive Time team closer look at these developments with David Chow, Director Azure Capital. They also discussed Credit Suisse’s move to borrow from the Swiss National Bank and the launch of Baidu’s Ernie Bot shortly after OpenAI’s unveiling of GPT-4.