Singapore shares open higher on Monday, STI up 0.5%

SINGAPORE shares were up at Monday's open, with the Straits Times Index (STI) gaining 0.5 per cent or 13.93 points to 3,075.28 as at 9.03am on Monday.

Gainers outnumbered losers 113 to 44, after 76.2 million securities worth S$65.8 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was International Cement Group KUO , which saw 11 million of its shares worth S$360,000 traded as at 9.03am. Its shares gained 0.2 Singapore cent or 6.5 per cent to 3.3 cents.

The group on Monday announced that its subsidiary has entered into a joint venture agreement to construct a cement plant in Kazakhstan, and thereafter produce and sell cement.

Sembcorp Marine S51 was also actively traded, with six million shares worth S$490,000 changing hands. Its shares were flat at 8.1 cents.

Among index stocks, CapitaLand Investment 9CI saw brisk trading, with 2.2 million shares worth S$7.5 million changing hands. Its shares were up S$0.05 or 1.5 per cent at S$3.35.

The trio of local banks were up in early trade. DBS D05 rose S$0.24 or 0.8 per cent to S$29.59, UOB U11 gained S$0.19 or 0.8 per cent to S$25.59, while OCBC O39 was up S$0.10 or 0.9 per cent at S$11.48.

In the US, Wall Street stocks finished a volatile week on a muted note Friday as markets monitored ongoing travails around Evergrande and rising supply chain concerns following disappointing Nike results.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at 34,798.00, up 0.1 per cent, the broad-based S&P 500 added 0.2 per cent at 4,455.48 to finish the week up 0.5 per cent, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost less than 0.1 per cent to end at 15,047.70.

Meanwhile, European stocks fell on Friday as worries about troubled property developer China Evergrande and weak German business confidence data prompted investors to book some profits after a mid-week rally.

Retail stocks were the top decliners in Europe, down 1.7 per cent, while the region-wide Stoxx 600 fell 0.9 per cent. But a three-day rally put the index 0.3 per cent higher for the week.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo shares opened higher on Monday as Japan moves to lift a coronavirus state of emergency in many areas and with the ruling party preparing to choose a new leader.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.5 per cent or 148.38 points to 30,397.19 while the broader Topix index advanced 0.7 per cent or 14.04 points to 2,104.79.