Singapore stocks open slightly higher on Wednesday; STI up 0.1%

SINGAPORE shares opened slightly higher on Wednesday, tracking gains on Wall Street. The Straits Times Index (STI) was up 0.1 per cent or 3.05 points at 3,152.30 as at 9.06am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 96 to 56, with 77.6 million securities worth S$71.7 million changing hands.

The most active counter by volume was Sembcorp Marine, with 21.3 million shares worth S$2.6 million traded as at 9.06am. Its shares were up 0.2 Singapore cent or 1.6 per cent at 12.4 cents.

Del Monte Pacific was also heavily traded in the morning, with 1.6 million shares worth S$580,000 changing hands. The counter was down S$0.04 or 10.3 per cent at S$0.35. The canned-food brand on Wednesday announced it was delaying plans for the initial public offering of its 87 per cent-owned subsidiary Del Monte Philippines due to adverse market conditions and high volatility on the Philippine Stock Exchange amid a surge in Covid-19 infections in the Philippines and the region.

Banking stocks were up in early trade. DBS rose S$0.02 or 0.7 per cent to S$30.23, UOB gained S$0.25 or 1 per cent to S$26.10, while OCBC increased S$0.06 or 0.5 per cent to S$12.30.

OCBC and UOB on Wednesday reported markedly stronger Q2 earnings from the year-ago period, with OCBC reporting that its Q2 net profit rose 59 per cent, while UOB's Q2 net profit was up 43 per cent.

Both banks also returned their dividend payouts to pre-pandemic levels as the Singapore regulator lifted the cap on dividends paid against their 2021 earnings. OCBC declared a dividend of S$0.25 per share for the period, while UOB declared an interim dividend of S$0.60 per ordinary share.

In the US, the broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.8 per cent to finish at a fresh record of 4,423.15 on Tuesday, as equities shook off early weakness and closed higher on the back of strength in industrials and energy shares.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.8 per cent higher at 35,116.40, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.6 per cent to 14,761.29. Analysts cited bargain-hunting as a factor in Tuesday's bounce back following Monday's lacklustre session, which was dented by worries over global growth and the Delta variant.

In Europe, strong earnings updates from heavyweights including BP and Societe Generale drove European stocks to a record-high close on Tuesday, although gains were capped by concerns over rising Delta variant cases and China's recent regulatory moves. After dipping into negative territory earlier, the Stoxx 600 index ended up 0.2 per cent at 465.38.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo shares opened lower on Wednesday on continued worries over coronavirus infections, despite overnight gains on Wall Street. The Nikkei 225 index gave up 0.4 per cent or 110.38 points to 27,531.45 in early trade, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.3 per cent or 6.44 points to 1,924.70.