Singapore stocks open higher on Wednesday; STI up 0.2%

SINGAPORE stocks opened higher on Wednesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street where major indices hit new records.

The Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.2 per cent or 6.52 points to 2,832.15 as at 9.02am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 98 to 32 after 55 million securities worth S$36.5 million changed hands.

Shares of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding were one of the most actively traded counters on Wednesday morning, with 6.2 million shares worth S$5.9 million changing hands as at 9.02am. The counter was up 1.5 Singapore cents or 1.6 per cent to 95 cents.

The trio of local banks were also mostly up on Wednesday morning, with DBS gaining 0.4 per cent or S$0.09 to S$25.10, while UOB was up 0.5 per cent or S$0.12 to S$22.65. OCBC shares were trading unchanged at S$9.99 as at 9.01am.

Aviation-related counters such as SIA and SATS were trading higher on Wednesday morning. SIA shares were up 0.5 per cent or S$0.02 to S$4.42, while SATS shares were up 0.7 per cent or S$0.03 to S$4.14 as at 9.06am.

The Changi Ready Taskforce announced on Tuesday that Singapore's air cargo community is ready for the transportation and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines , as it detailed its capabilities in handling cargo with strict temperature requirements.

Shares of Hatten Land also saw gains on Wednesday morning, rising 7.7 per cent or 0.5 Singapore cent to seven cents as at 9.02am. The Catalist-listed property developer had received a query from Singapore Exchange RegCo on Tuesday regarding the volume movements in its shares. It had responded that it is not aware of reasons for the unusual volume of movements in its shares on Tuesday.

Wall Street stocks finished in record territory again on Tuesday on enthusiasm over coronavirus vaccines.

Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished at all-time highs, with the S&P 500 up 0.3 per cent to 3,702.25 and the Nasdaq Composite Index up 0.5 per cent to 12,582.77. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.4 per cent to close at 30,173.88.

In Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Wednesday as investors took heart from fresh Wall Street records on coronavirus vaccine progress.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.40 per cent or 106.43 points to 26,573.51 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.17 per cent or 2.94 points at 1,761.75.

The ASX 200 in Australia was also trading higher on Wednesday, up 0.7 per cent to 6,735.2 in morning trade.