By BLOOMBERG

JAKARTA • Singapore stocks slumped to their lowest level in almost nine months as concerns about prospects for global trade dragged markets lower.

The Straits Times Index dropped 0.8% at the close after briefly entering a correction zone. The gauge has slid 9.8% since its May 2 peak, nearing its first 10% slide from peak to trough in more than two years.

Trade tensions between the US and other economic behemoths and rising interest rates have jolted markets, along with worries over higher crude oil prices. Benchmark gauges in Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand have entered a correction, and the Philippine Stock Exchange Index slid into a bear market territory last week, holding on to its title of Asia’s worst market this year.

“Singapore has been hit because it is a liquid market where foreigners can pull out enough volume and at a quick enough pace,” said Nicholas Teo, a trading strategist at KGI Securities (Singapore) Pte Lts. Teo sees “significant headwinds” for the rest of the year from prospects of higher rates and trade war concerns.

Morgan Stanley strategist Jonathan Garner wrote that deteriorating economic backdrop amid US Federal Reserve tightening, weaker liquidity in China, strengthening dollar and escalating trade tensions between US and China, have led to significant downgrades in index targets across Asia.

Singapore has highest proportion of stocks in oversold territory in at least a year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Straits Times gauge last saw a protracted decline over a threemonth period through Jan 21, 2016, when it tumbled 18%.