Singapore stocks open higher on Wednesday; STI up 0.5%

SINGAPORE shares opened higher on Wednesday, despite a negative showing overnight on Wall Street.

The Straits Times Index (STI) advanced 13.25 points or 0.5 per cent to 2,987.12 as at 9.04am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 83 to 48, after 120.3 million securities worth S$86.5 million changed hands.

Watch-listed Oceanus was the most heavily traded by volume, with more than 46.8 million shares worth S$2.9 million changing hands in early trade. Following the 11.1 per cent drop on Tuesday, the counter fell another 3.1 per cent or 0.2 Singapore cent as at 9.08am on Wednesday to trade at 6.2 cents.

Index stock Singtel was up in early trade, gaining 0.4 per cent or S$0.01 to S$2.34 as at 9.07am.

The trio of local banks opened in the black this morning. DBS advanced 1.4 per cent or S$0.37 to S$27.31, UOB gained 0.4 per cent or S$0.01 to S$25.20, while OCBC rose 0.8 per cent or S$0.09 to S$11.17 as at 9.07am.

US investors retreated, noting gains from Monday's surge and pausing to gauge whether a bond yield jump had run its course. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 143.99 points or 0.5 per cent to 31,391.52, the broad-based S&P 500 lost 31.5 points or 0.8 per cent to 3,870.29, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite dropped 230.04 points or 1.7 per cent to 13,358.79.

European equities ended Tuesday higher as investors were optimistic about an economic recovery amid Covid-19 vaccine rollouts. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.2 per cent by the close in London, with the insurance, construction, mining and media sectors leading the gains.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Wednesday, shrugging off falls on Wall Street. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.3 per cent or 85.11 points at 29,493.28 in early trade, while the broader Topix index edged up 0.1 per cent or 1.31 points to 1,896.16.