Singapore shares open higher on Tuesday; STI up 0.5%

SINGAPORE shares opened higher on Tuesday after US markets recorded losses overnight.

The Straits Times Index gained 11.52 points or 0.5 per cent to 2,578.77 as at 9.04am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 82 to 46, after 30.9 million securities worth S$39.4 million changed hands.

Biolidics was the most traded counter by volume in the morning, rising 1.5 Singapore cents or 4.9 per cent to 32 cents after 6.3 million shares were traded. This comes after the cancer diagnostics company on Monday said it would be distributing its Covid-19 rapid test kits in the US.

Biolidics previously said it was working closely with partner Clearbridge Health to obtain approval from health authorities in Asia for the use of this rapid test kit. Clearbridge Health also saw heavy trading on Tuesday morning, up 0.6 Singapore cent or 4.4 per cent to 14.2 cents on three million shares traded.

Meanwhile, Singtel shares traded up S$0.05 or 1.8 per cent to S$2.79 on 3.4 million shares traded.

It was a mixed bag among local banks, as DBS rose S$0.05 or 0.3 per cent to S$19.33 but OCBC lost S$0.03 or 0.3 per cent to S$8.89 and UOB decreased S$0.04 or 0.2 per cent to S$20.14.

Wall Street stocks mostly fell on Monday ahead of major earnings reports which are expected to be impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 328.6 points or 1.39 per cent to 23,390.77, the S&P 500 lost 28.19 points or 1.01 per cent to 2,761.63 and the Nasdaq Composite added 38.85 points or 0.48 per cent to 8,192.43.

Elsewhere in Asia, stocks in Japan opened higher. Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.48 per cent or 91.91 points at 19,135.31 in early trade while the broader Topix index edged up 0.28 per cent or 3.91 points to 1,409.82.