Singapore stocks open higher, tracking US market gains; STI up 0.8%

SINGAPORE shares rose at the opening bell on Thursday after US markets closed sharply higher overnight.

The Straits Times Index (STI) gained 20.69 points or 0.8 per cent to 2,595.42 as at 9.05am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 144 to 36, after 242.4 million securities worth S$735.3 million changed hands.

Singtel was the most traded counter by volume in the morning, rising S$0.01 or 0.4 per cent to S$2.81 after 30.8 million shares were traded. This comes after the telco was awarded a 5G operating licence in Singapore on Wednesday.

Other actives included Genting Singapore, which gained 0.5 Singapore cent or 0.7 per cent to 77.5 cents with 17.6 million shares traded.

Meanwhile, Keppel Corp advanced S$0.02 or 0.3 per cent to S$5.99 after 4.4 million shares changed hands. On Wednesday, it posted a 20.9 per cent drop in Q1 net profit to S$160.5 million from a year earlier, mainly due to the absence of gain from the partial divestment of a Vietnam township project that had boosted profit previously.

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All three local banks rose after the opening bell. DBS jumped S$0.42 or 2.2 per cent to S$19.62 after the lender on Thursday reported a 29 per cent fall in first-quarter net profit due to coronavirus loan loss provisions.

OCBC gained S$0.11 or 1.2 per cent to S$8.98, while UOB rose S$0.04 or 0.2 per cent to S$19.93.

Wall Street stocks ended a bullish session sharply higher on Wednesday on hopes of continued Federal Reserve stimulus and positive signs about potential treatment for Covid-19.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 2.2 per cent to 24,633.86, the broad-based S&P 500 gained 2.7 per cent to 2,939.51, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite jumped 3.6 per cent to 8,914.71.

In Asia, Tokyo stocks also opened higher on Thursday. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 1.6 per cent or 319.23 points to 20,090.42 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 1.4 per cent or 19.90 points to 1,469.05.