Singapore shares rise at Thursday’s open; STI up 0.4%

Singapore shares rose on Thursday (Oct 6) morning, after a mixed day for global stock markets.

The Straits Times Index (STI) climbed 0.4 per cent or 10.98 points to 3,164.21 as at 9.01 am. Gainers outnumbered losers 98 to 23 as 44.6 million securities worth S$49.3 million changed hands.

Marine logistics group Sembcorp Marine was the most actively traded security in terms of volume on Thursday, with 3.7 million shares changing hands. The counter remained unchanged at S$0.11.

Index counters Singtel and SATS also saw significant trading activity. 1.8 million Singtel shares were traded, with the counter remaining unchanged at S$2.55. Meanwhile SATS gained 2.7 per cent or S$0.08 to S$3.03, with 1.3 million shares traded.

Shares of shipbuilding and repairing company MarcoPolo Marine were also heavily traded, rising 2.6 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.04, with 2.9 million shares traded.

The trio of banks opened in green on Thursday. DBS rose 0.5 per cent or S$0.15 to S$33.57, UOB gained 1 per cent or S$0.27 to S$26.77, while OCBC was up 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$12.00.

Wall Street stocks finished a volatile session modestly lower on Wednesday, snapping a two-day winning streak. US employment data released on Wednesday showing strong labour demand did little to allay jitters about Federal Reserve rate hikes.

The broad-based S&P 500 declined 0.2 per cent to 3,783.28, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.3 per cent to end the session at 11,148.64.The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1 per cent to close at 30,273.87.

After rallying more than 5 per cent in the previous three sessions, European shares also dropped on Wednesday, with declining business activity in the region fuelling fears of an economic downturn.

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Stocks to watch: Sats

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 1 per cent as a sharp rate hike from New Zealand’s central bank on Wednesday jolted investors and weighed on risk sentiment.

Tokyo shares meanwhile opened slightly higher on Thursday, bucking the trend of fizzling global rallies.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index added 0.3 per cent, or 85.33 points, to 27,205.86, while the broader Topix index rose 0.4 per cent, or 7.31 points, to 1,920.23.