Singapore stocks open little changed on Tuesday; STI up 0.01%

SINGAPORE shares were little changed at the open on Tuesday (May 24), despite overnight gains on Wall Street.

The Straits Times Index (STI) inched up 0.01 per cent or 0.26 point to 3,213.91 as at 9.03 am. Gainers outnumbered losers 69 to 49, after 113.3 million securities worth S$96.8 million changed hands.

The most actively traded counter by volume was Sembcorp Marine , which saw 25.2 million of its shares worth S$2.6 million traded at 9.03 am. Its shares were up S$0.002 or 1.9 per cent at S$0.105.

Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust (MNACT) also saw brisk trading, with 12 million shares worth S$14.5 million changing hands. The counter was flat at S$1.20.

On Monday, the merger of MNACT and Mapletree Commercial Trust was approved by their respective unitholders in their separate extraordinary general meetings, following which MNACT will be delisted from the Singapore Exchange in mid-August.

Among index stocks, telco Singtel was actively traded, with 2 million shares worth S$5.4 million changing hands. Its shares were up S$0.01 or 0.4 per cent at S$2.68.

Meanwhile, the trio of local banks were down in early trade. DBS was down S$0.08 or 0.3 per cent at S$30.62, UOB fell S$0.26 or 0.9 per cent to S$28.96, while OCBC lost S$0.01 or 0.1 per cent to S$11.71.

In the US, Wall Street stocks finished solidly higher on Monday following hints the US could end some tariffs on China as investors pondered whether the year’s bearish trend may have ebbed.

The S&P 500 finished up 1.9 per cent at 3,973.75, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 2 per cent to 31,880.24, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.6 per cent to 11,535.27.

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Singapore stocks fall amid mixed regional showing; STI down 0.83%

In Europe, shares ended decidedly higher on Monday as an unexpected rise in German business morale underscored the resilience of the region’s largest economy, while wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa jumped on a takeover offer.

After rising as much as 1.3 per cent earlier in the day, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index ended 1.3 per cent higher. German shares rose 1.4 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks were barely changed in early Tuesday trade after overnight rallies on Wall Street on hopes that the US economic outlook may be easing.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was off 0.1 per cent, or 21.91 points, at 26,979.61 in early trade, but the broader Topix index edged up 0.02 per cent, or 0.37 point, at 1,894.94.