Singapore shares open higher tracking Wall Street rebound; STI up 0.4%

SINGAPORE shares opened higher on Thursday tracking US equities overnight, with the Straits Times Index (STI) rising 12.75 points or 0.4 per cent to 3,037.78 as at 9.01am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 111 to 20, with about 50.2 million securities worth S$86.8 million changing hands.

Among the most heavily traded by volume, Genting Singapore gained 0.5 Singapore cent or 0.6 per cent to 81 cents, with 2.4 million shares changing hands, while CapitaLand Mall Trust rose S$0.01 or 0.4 per cent to S$2.47, with 1.8 million units traded.

Meanwhile, banking stocks were mixed in the early session of trading. DBS slipped S$0.05 or 0.2 per cent to S$23.86, United Overseas Bank edged up S$0.02 or 0.1 per cent to S$24.02, while OCBC Bank was flat at S$10.55. All three lenders were trading on a cum-dividend basis.

Other active index stocks included Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, which was trading up two Singapore cents or 2.2 per cent to 91.5 cents, while City Developments gained S$0.14 or 1.4 per cent to S$10.05.

Over in the US, stocks rose on Wednesday after a steep drop from the day before. This came as investors cheered former vice-president Joe Biden's strong showing in the Super Tuesday Democratic Party's primaries, and US lawmakers approved a deal to provide more than US$8 billion to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.

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In the Asia-Pacific region, Japan's Topix rose 1 per cent as at 9.04am in Tokyo, while South Korea's Kospi added 0.4 per cent and Australia stocks climbed 1.6 per cent.