Singapore shares rise at Wednesday's open; STI up 0.2%

SINGAPORE stocks edged up at Wednesday's open, lifted by a largely positive start to September by index counters and real estate investment trusts (Reits).

The Straits Times Index was up 0.2 per cent or 4.75 points to 3,059.80 as at 9.03am. Gainers outnumbered losers 83 to 49, after 53.1 million securities worth S$92.2 million changed hands.

One of the most active counters by volume was Genting Singapore G13 , which was up 1.3 per cent or one Singapore cent to 77.5 cents, with 4.9 million shares changing hands.

Other heavily traded securities included Yangzijiang Shipbuilding BS6, which lost 1.8 per cent or S$0.03 to S$1.61 after 3.8 million shares were traded, as well as Keppel Reit K71U , which gained 1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$1.06, with 3.8 million shares traded.

Banking stocks were mixed in early morning traded. DBS D05 was up 0.1 per cent or S$0.04 to S$30.01, OCBC O39 gained 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$11.44 but UOB U11 declined 0.5 per cent or S$0.12 to S$25.46.

Other active index counters included Singtel Z74, which climbed 0.9 per cent or S$0.02 to S$2.34, as well as the Singapore Exchange S68 , which advanced 0.2 per cent or S$0.02 to S$9.92.

In the US, stocks ended Tuesday lower as investors await key data on how the labour market is weathering the Delta variant surge.

The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1 per cent to close at 35,359.08.

The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 0.1 per cent to finish at 4,522.58, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was essentially flat at 15,259.24, ending a two-session streak of records by both indices.

Meanwhile, European markets declined on Tuesday as a spike in inflation caused jitters about a possible shift in monetary policy. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed 0.4 per cent lower.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo shares opened higher on Wednesday. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index firmed 0.4 per cent to 28,200.67 in early trade, while the broader Topix index rose 0.4 per cent to 1,968.99.