SINGAPORE – The Singapore market had a turbulent start on June 8 amid a wider global sell-off in technology stocks and an escalation of conflict in the Middle East.The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 1.5 per cent, or over 75 points, when the market opened on the first trading day of the week, sliding alongside other Asian indexes.As at 2pm, the STI was down 1.9 per cent at 4,955.47, but recovered slightly to close 1.7 per cent lower at 4,963.67.Singapore’s tech stocks were hit by the wider sell-off on Wall Street.Semiconductor testing equipment maker AEM fell some 3 per cent, while UMS shares lost around 1.2 per cent.Precision engineering firm InnoTek, a player in the artificial intelligence and electric vehicle space, declined over 4 per cent.Tech firms Frencken, Addvalue Tech and Venture Corp also saw shares dip by 1 per cent to 2 per cent during intra-day trading on June 8.In Asia, South Korea’s chip-heavy Kospi benchmark was the worst hit, plunging over 8 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei slid almost 4 per cent and Taiwan’s benchmark fell 3.5 per cent.South Korean chip giant Samsung Electronics sank 10 per cent while its peer SK Hynix lost more than 7.5 per cent.Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, or TSMC, was down nearly 3 per cent and Hon Hai Precision, also known as Foxconn, fell over 5 per cent.US stock markets saw a massive drop on June 5 before the weekend, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipping some 4 per cent due to fears that the gains made by big AI players might be unsustainable.Major investment funds pulled money out of AI and microchip companies, the BBC reported.The tech sell-off was triggered after custom chip designer Broadcom reported its second-quarter revenue, which missed market estimates.This set off a cascading effect across the tech sector as simmering fears of an AI bubble boiled over and institutional and retail investors pulled back on their tech holdings.Invesco global market strategist for the Asia-Pacific David Chao said: “Asia tech stocks are directly linked to the US semiconductor cycle, as they share the same supply chain and investor positioning.”He added that in Asia, the AI investment narrative has become quite concentrated and is driven by a few names in South Korea and Taiwan, which has led to the markets becoming more fragile.“Thus, when one company disappoints or there is disruption to demand or supply, we see outsized market volatility,” he said.Retail investors are also tested by the imminent initial public offering (IPO) of SpaceX by tech mogul Elon Musk.Set to be one of the biggest IPOs in recent years, it might also pull liquidity from the market as investors sell their positions in other tech stocks to raise the capital needed to invest in SpaceX, experts told Bloomberg.Shares in SpaceX are expected to be released to investors on June 12, and the company will be listed on the Nasdaq.The general souring of market sentiment has also hit Singapore Exchange (SGX) heavyweights.The three local banks saw their shares fall. DBS was down 1.6 per cent, OCBC Bank declined 2.3 per cent and UOB dropped around 2 per cent.Even CNMC Goldmine, which enjoyed share price increases during the gold rally of the last two years, lost 5 per cent.Gold prices fell over the weekend despite the metal’s reputation as a safe haven in times of volatility. They were down some 3 per cent on June 6 due to rising fears of a US rate hike after an unexpectedly strong jobs report.The trading of strikes between Israel and Iran over the weekend also pushed oil prices higher and stoked inflation fears.Crude oil rose to nearly US$94 per barrel on June 8, nearly 4 per cent higher than its previous price.Amid this volatile global environment, urban revitalisation company Lum Chang Creations said on June 8 in a filing on the SGX that it is monitoring market conditions for its proposed transfer from the Catalist board to the mainboard.The company had proposed earlier in 2026 its transfer to the SGX mainboard to enhance its profile and broaden its investor base.Shareholders voted in favour of the proposed transfer and a proposed one-for-one bonus issue at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) held on May 25.Lum Chang Creations said in its statement on June 8: “The board wishes to announce that, in view of the volatility in the market since the date of the EGM, the company is currently still monitoring and evaluating the market conditions for the proposed placement.”The firm saw its shares slide around 6 per cent in trading on June 8.