Singapore shares edge up at open tracking Wall Street rally; STI up 0.5%

SINGAPORE shares open higher on Thursday, tracking a Wall Street rally overnight that came on the back of encouraging US economic data. 

The benchmark Straits Times Index gained 15.11 points, or 0.47 per cent to 3,215.24 as at 9am. 

Gainers outnumbered losers 82 to 23, after about 47.8 million securities worth S$58.7 million changed hands. 

BlackGold Natural Resources (BlackGold) was the most heavily traded by volume, rising 0.8 Singapore cent, or 53.3 per cent to 2.3 Singapore cents, with 4.7 million shares traded, while Rex International gained 0.2 Singapore cent, or 1.2 per cent to 17.6 Singapore cents, with 2.6 million shares traded. 

On Wednesday, Catalist-listed BlackGold said it is looking to raise up to S$25 million by issuing interest-free convertible bonds to three investors, in a bid to finance new plans for the business. 

Banking stocks were also up in the early morning trade. DBS gained S$0.23, or 0.9 per cent to S$25.68, United Overseas Bank added S$0.05, or 0.2 per cent to S$26.10, and OCBC Bank rose S$0.08, or 0.7 per cent to S$11.08. 

Other active securities included CDL Hospitality Trusts which lost S$0.04, or 2.6 per cent to S$1.52 on an ex-dividend basis, while ComfortDelGro gained S$0.04, or 1.9 per cent to S$2.18. 

Over in the US, stocks closed at a record high on strong US jobs data and waning fears among investors on the financial impact of coronavirus outbreak. 

The broad-based S&P 500 shot up 1.1 per cent to 3,334.69, and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.4 per cent to 9,508.68. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also climbed 1.7 per cent to 29,290.85.

Elswhere in the Asia-Pacific region, Japan's Topix gained 1.5 per cent, and South Korea's Kospi added 1.1 per cent. Australian stocks also rose 0.7 per cent.