Singapore shares inch higher tracking US rally; STI up 0.05% at open

SINGAPORE shares opened slightly higher on Friday morning, following a Wall Street rally overnight.

The benchmark Straits Times Index gained 1.49 points or 0.05 per cent to 3,172.17 as at 9.03am.

Advancers outnumbered decliners 76 to 60, after about 104.8 million securities worth S$157 million changed hands.

The most heavily traded by volume was OEL (Holdings) which fell 0.2 Singapore cent or 5.7 per cent to 3.3 Singapore cents after 12.7 million shares changed hands, followed by Golden Agri-Resources which was flat at S$0.22, with 12.5 million shares traded.

Meanwhile, the trio of banks had a mixed showing in the early morning session. DBS slipped S$0.10, or 0.4 per cent to S$25.59, United Overseas Bank gained S$0.06, or 0.2 per cent to S$25.76, while OCBC Bank added S$0.02, or 0.2 per cent to S$10.94.

Other active index stocks include CapitaLand Mall Trust which rose S$0.03, or 1.2 per cent to S$2.55.

ComfortDelGro was up S$0.02, or 0.9 per cent to S$2.19. The transport giant said it has suspended operations at its driving centre in Nanjing - which is about 530 km away from Wuhan - since Jan 28.

Keppel Reit lost S$0.02, or 1.6 per cent to S$1.21 on an ex-dividend basis.

Over in the US, stocks staged a late comeback on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average advancing 0.4 per cent to close at 28,859.44.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.3 per cent to end the day at 3,283.66, and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index also rose 0.3 per cent to 9,298.93.

The gains came on the back of a heavy day of earnings. The US Commerce Department also reported that the US economy grew at a solid pace of 2.3 per cent but fell short of President Trump's promise to deliver at least 3 per cent growth.

Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, stocks also pushed higher on Friday morning with Japan's Topix rising 0.9 per cent, and South Korea's Kospi rising 0.4 per cent. Australia stocks also climbed 0.4 per cent.