Singapore shares rise at Wednesday’s open as investors cheer positive GDP, export data

SINGAPORE stocks opened slightly higher on Wednesday (May 25), as the release of positive gross domestic product (GDP) and export data outweighed a weaker showing on Wall Street.

On Wednesday morning, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said the Singapore economy expanded by 3.7 per cent year on year in Q1 2022, with uplift from the manufacturing, finance and insurance, and professional services. However, the external demand outlook “has weakened compared to 3 months ago”.

The Republic is also upgrading its 2022 key exports forecast following better-than-expected Q1 performance and higher oil prices, which is expected to support oil trade, Enterprise Singapore said in its quarterly trade review on the same day.

On the Singapore bourse, the Straits Times Index headed up 0.4 per cent or 11.89 points to 3,206.93 as at 9.03 am. Gainers outnumbered losers 75 to 34, or about 2 securities up for every 1 down, after 50.7 million securities worth S$67.5 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was Sembcorp Marine , which gained 0.9 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.107, with 7.1 million shares changing hands.

Other heavily traded securities included Yangzijiang Financial Holding , which rose 1.1 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.48, with 7.1 million shares traded, as well as Thai Beverage , which advanced 0.7 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.70, with 3.7 million shares traded.

Banking stocks were mixed in early morning trade. DBS was up 0.5 per cent or S$0.14 at S$30.64, UOB lost 0.1 per cent or S$0.02 to S$29.20, while OCBC increased 0.5 per cent or S$0.06 to S$11.66.

Other active index counters included Singapore Airlines , which rose 0.6 per cent or S$0.03 to S$5.52, as well as the Singapore Exchange , which gained 0.8 per cent or S$0.08 to S$9.88.

In the US, the Nasdaq suffered another ugly round of selling amid weak earnings and economic data. The index fell 2.4 per cent to 11,264.45.

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Meanwhile, the broad-based S&P 500 lost 0.8 per cent to 3,941.48, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2 per cent to 31,928.62.

European shares closed lower on Tuesday, tracking declines in global stock markets. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index ended 1.1 per cent lower, giving back almost all of Monday’s gains.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks also opened lower on Wednesday after US stocks mostly retreated on concerns about growth following a profit warning from the owner of Snapchat that shocked the tech sector.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.1 per cent to 26,712.12 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 0.1 per cent to 1,876.70.