Singapore shares open slightly higher on Thursday; STI up 0.1% to 3,372.29

SINGAPORE shares inched higher on Thursday, with the Straits Times Index rising 0.1 per cent, or 3.85 points to 3,372.29 as at 9.03am. 

This comes after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq surged to fresh records on Wall Street overnight, while the Dow retreated after Boeing and Caterpillar slumped on disappointing earnings.

Boeing on Wednesday reported its worst ever quarterly loss of US$2.9 billion as costs pile up for the aerospace giant, while its flagship 737 Max remains grounded after two fatal crashes. 

On the Singapore bourse, gainers outnumbered losers 62 to 54, after about 69.2 million shares worth S$85.6 million changed hands. 

Among the most heavily traded by volume, Genting Singapore was up 0.5 per cent, or 0.5 Singapore cent to S$0.94, with 3.5 million shares traded, while Wilmar International gained 0.8 per cent, or three cents to S$4, with 2.2 million shares traded. 

Banking stocks were also mixed in the early morning trade, with DBS gaining 0.8 per cent, or 21 Singapore cents to S$26.86; UOB adding 0.5 per cent, or 12 cents to S$26.92; and OCBC dipping 0.3 per cent, or three cents to S$11.71. 

Other active stocks included CapitaLand Commercial Trust which lost 2.3 per cent, or five cents to S$2.10 on an ex-dividend basis, and Frasers Logistics Trust, which slipped 1.7 per cent, or two cents to S$1.19. 

Elsewhere, Asian stocks were cautious on Thursday, with benchmark indices trading mixed. Japan's Topix rose 0.3 per cent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was little changed. South Korea's Kospi was flat and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index contracts added 0.1 per cent, data from Bloomberg show.