Singapore shares open higher on Wednesday; STI up 0.8%

SINGAPORE stocks began Wednesday (Oct 9) morning trading in positive territory, mirroring overnight gains in the US market.

As at 9.01 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) rose 27.54 points or 0.8 per cent to 3,603.23. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 69 to 35 after 29.7 million securities worth S$51.8 million changed hands.

Beverage maker Thai Beverage (ThaiBev) was the most actively traded counter by volume. It remained flat at S$0.52 after 4.7 million shares changed hands.

Other actively traded counters included food technology company Oceanus Group, which fell 12.5 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.007, and oil exploration and production company Rex International which dropped 3.7 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.131.

Banking stocks were up at the open. DBS rose 1.1 per cent or S$0.43 to S$38.78 and OCBC climbed 1.7 per cent or S$0.25 to S$15.13. Meanwhile, UOB gained 0.5 per cent or S$0.15 to S$31.91.

Wall Street stocks advanced on Tuesday as tech shares gained and oil prices fell, while investors assessed unrest in the Middle East.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3 per cent to 42,080.37, while the broad-based S&P 500 added 1 per cent to 5,751.13.

The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.5 per cent to 18,182.92.

Over in Europe, stocks settled lower on Tuesday, as a lack of fresh details over China’s stimulus measures sparked a sell-off in sectors linked to the world’s second-largest economy such as mining and luxury.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index dropped around 1 per cent to touch a two-week low, before paring losses and declining 0.6 per cent to 516.64.