Singapore: STI opens higher after Nasdaq's record close

SINGAPORE share prices opened higher on Thursday with the Straits Times Index up 1.82 points (0.05 per cent) to 3,426.76 at 9.06am.

This follows the Nasdaq's bolt to a new peak on Wednesday in a broad-based Wall Street rally that largely reversed sharp losses in the prior session. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 73.84 points (1.47 per cent) to 5,106.59, almost 15 points above the prior record set on April 24.

Tokyo stocks also opened 0.57 per cent higher on Thursday after nine consecutive days of rises, buoyed by a lower yen and the positive lead from Wall Street.

The Singapore Exchange's biggest movers in early trading included property developers such as City Developments and Bukit Sembawang, up 0.6 per cent and 0.8 per cent to S$10.41 and S$5.16 respectively. Medical devices company Biosensors was down 5 per cent to S$0.76 after posting a net loss of US$247.04 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015, reversing the US$6.11 million profit in the year-ago period.

At 9.06am, 161.3 million shares worth S$72.7 million had changed hands, with gainers outnumbering losers 106 to 53.