Singapore shares open higher in line with Wall Street

SINGAPORE shares resumed trading higher on Friday, a day after technical glitches forced the Singapore Exchange (SGX) to suspend trading in its securities market.

The blue chip Straits Times Index (STI) was trading around 2,929.43, up 0.77 per cent, or 22.51 points, at 9.02am on Friday. More than 273 million shares changed hands, with gainers outpacing losers 90 to 48.

SGX's securities market stopped trading at 11.38 am on Thursday due to a computer glitch. After failing twice to meet its target resumption time, SGX decided to shut the market for the rest of the day. At the time of the breakdown, the STI was trading around 2,906.93, down 3.72 points, or 0.13 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks edged higher at the open on Friday after four straight days of gains and as Wall Street powered to fresh records, which saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average trade up 0.73 per cent, at 18,506.41.

In an e-mail to clients, Angus Nicholson, a market analyst at IG in Melbourne said: "Asian markets are all set to open higher today in the wake of the strong US session - risk sentiment is strong."