Singapore shares edge up at open tracking US gains; STI up 0.2%

SINGAPORE stocks inched up in the first few minutes of trade on Thursday (Jul 28), extending rallies on Wall Street, after the Federal Reserve proceeded with another hefty interest rate hike.

Singapore’s Straits Times Index headed up 0.2 per cent or 5.10 points to 3,210.24 as at 9.03 am. Gainers outnumbered losers 93 to 28 after 67.3 million securities worth S$55.3 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was Sembcorp Marine , which held steady at S$0.107 with 13.7 million shares changing hands.

Other heavily traded securities included Golden Energy and Resources , which rose 8.8 per cent or S$0.045 to S$0.555, with 3.2 million shares traded, and Genting Singapore , which was up 0.6 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.815, with 2.6 million shares traded.

Banking stocks rose in early morning trade. DBS gained 0.4 per cent or S$0.11 to S$31.76, UOB advanced 0.6 per cent or S$0.16 to S$28.16, while OCBC increased 0.4 per cent or S$0.05 to S$11.65.

Other active index counters included CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust , which was up 0.5 per cent or S$0.01 to S$2.15. The trust on Thursday posted a 0.8 per cent increase in distribution per unit to S$0.0522 for H1 ended June, on the back of an income boost from Singapore’s reopening and the trust’s portfolio reconstitution efforts.

In the US, stocks rallied on Wednesday as investors cheered the Federal Reserve’s move to hike rates by 75 basis points in its aggressive fight against inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.4 per cent higher at 32,197.59, while the broad-based S&P 500 gained 2.6 per cent to 4,023.61. Meanwhile, the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 4.1 per cent to 12,032.42.

European shares traded near 7-week highs on Wednesday amid a slew of strong company results. The Stoxx 600 index closed 0.5 per cent higher, with shares of French IT consulting firm Atos surging 16.2 per cent to top the index on securing financing for a turnaround plan.

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Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Thursday. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.8 per cent to 27,924.89 in early trade, while the broader Topix index gained 0.4 per cent to 1,953.99.