SINGAPORE - Further drops in oil prices and slumping shares across Asia sent Singapore stocks down almost 1 per cent on Monday.

The benchmark Straits Times Index lost 29.99 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 3,294.14, with energy plays continuing to take a hit.

But overall trading activity was muted, with just 974.4 million shares worth $833.6 million changing hands.

"The oil price collapse is symptomatic of a lack of global demand," said Mr Stewart Richardson, a partner at RMG Wealth Management LLP in London, in an interview with Bloomberg.

"Developed equity markets have become more jittery. We don't see central banks as being in a position to appease markets at the moment."

About US$2 trillion was erased from the value of equities across the world last week as oil prices slumped, Bloomberg data shows.

Regional bourses mostly ended lower. Sydney slipped 0.6 per cent, Hong Kong fell 1 per cent and Tokyo retreated 1.57 per cent. Shanghai was an outlier, adding 0.5 per cent.