Singapore shares open higher on Monday; STI up 0.6% to 3,342.22

SINGAPORE stocks began the week on a stronger footing, with the Straits Times Index edging up 20.6 points, or 0.6 per cent to 3,342.22 as at 9.02am.

Similarly, most Asian equities rallied on Monday morning, amid signs of a thaw in the US-Sino trade war, as both head of states agreed to resume talks, and hold off on further tariffs at the G-20 summit over the weekend.

On the Singapore bourse, gainers outnumbered losers 117 to 33, after about 62.8 million securities worth S$91.1 million exchanged hands.

Among the most heavily traded by volume, Netlink NBN Trust was flat at S$0.89, with 14.8 million shares traded, while Singtel fell 0.9 per cent, or three Singapore cents to S$3.47 on a cum-dividend basis, with 8.4 million shares traded.

Banking stocks were in the green in the early morning - DBS gained 1.6 per cent, or S$0.41 to S$26.37, UOB added 1 per cent, or S$0.25 to S$26.38, and OCBC rose 0.8 per cent or nine cents to S$11.49.

Other active stocks included AEM which jumped 5.8 per cent, or six Singapore cents to S$1.09, and Venture Corp which gained 2.3 per cent, or S$0.38 to S$16.67.