Singapore shares open higher on Wednesday

SINGAPORE share prices opened 0.58 per cent higher on Wednesday, with the Straits Times Index (STI) up 15.81 points to 2,756.96 at 9.07 am.

This followed gains in the US and in Tokyo.

On Wall Street, stocks rallied the most in two months, as the bearish sentiment that has set the tone in markets the past two weeks eased amid a rebound in commodities from crude to silver.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 1.26 per cent to end at 17,928.35 and the S&P 500 jumped 1.25 per cent to 2,084.39. The Nasdaq Composite added 1.26 per cent to 4,809.88.

In Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Wednesday. The Nikkei-225 index at the Tokyo Stocks Exchange gained 171.53 points, or 1.04 per cent, to 16,736.72 in the first minutes of trade. The Topix index of all first-section shares rose 13.05 points, or 0.98 per cent, to 1,347.95.

On the Singapore bourse, the highest value traded stocks were palm oil processor Wilmar (down 7 cents at S$3.34); warehouse provider Global Logistic Properties (up 1.5 cent at S$1.795); and commodity trader Noble Group (up half a cent at S$0.365) at 9.07 am.

Overall on the stock market, 76.9 million shares worth S$92.8 million changed hands, with gainers outnumbering losers 109 to 34 as at 9.07 am.