Singapore shares extend US gains on Thursday; STI up 0.6%

SINGAPORE shares began Thursday’s (Sep 8) trading session in the green, as US stocks rebounded from a series of losses a day earlier.

The Straits Times Index (STI) moved up 0.6 per cent or 20.3 points to 3,231.13 as at 9 am. Gainers outnumbered losers 92 to 28 after 62.3 million securities worth S$68.4 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was watch-listed Eneco Energy , which held steady at S$0.014 with 9.9 million shares changing hands.

Shares of Sembcorp Marine also saw heavy trading on Thursday morning, as 6.8 million shares traded flat at S$0.112 as at 9 am.

Index counter Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was among the most traded counters by volume. The shipbuilding and repairing company was up 1.1 per cent or S$0.01 at S$0.91 with 1.8 million securities changing hands.

The trio of local banks also saw positive gains during early trade. DBS rose 1.5 per cent or S$0.47 to S$32.75, OCBC gained 0.2 per cent or S$0.02 to S$12.06, while UOB grew 0.7 per cent or S$0.18 to S$27.07 as at 9.01 am.

In the US, stocks finished solidly higher on Wednesday, shrugging off recent weakness despite more hawkish Federal Reserve commentary.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day 1.4 per cent higher to close at 31,581.28 as the broad-based S&P 500 rose 1.8 per cent to 3,979.87, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 2.1 per cent to end at 11,791.9.

Europe shares were conversely down at Wednesday’s trading session, led by declines in commodity stocks after lacklustre trade data from China added to worries about a global economic slowdown, although utility stocks jumped on a report of possible regulatory change.

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The benchmark Stoxx 600 index ended 0.6 per cent lower after notching marginal gains in the previous session. Miners exposed to China lost 2.3 per cent, while the European oil & gas index dropped 3.1 per cent tracking a fall in metal and crude prices.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo shares rose on Thursday’s open as investors cheered rallies on Wall Street, while also eyeing the dollar’s surge on lingering fears of aggressive US rate hikes.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.21 per cent or 331.14 points to 27,761.44 in early trade, while the broader Topix index added 1.18 per cent or 22.7 points to 1,938.35.