Singapore stocks open stronger on Friday; STI up 1.1%

SINGAPORE stocks opened stronger on Friday (Oct 14), echoing gains booked by Wall Street overnight.  

The Straits Times Index (STI) gained 1.1 per cent or 34.2 points to 3,074.65 as at 9.02 am. Gainers surpassed losers 126 to 22, or about six securities up for every one down, after 93.6 million securities worth S$54.9 million changed hands. 

Offshore and marine plays were two of the most active counters by volume. Sembcorp Marine rose 2.5 per cent or S$0.003 to S$0.121 with 41.1 million shares traded, while Marco Polo Marine inched up 2.7 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.038 with 13.7 million shares transacted. 

Another heavily-traded security was Catalist-listed Jiutian Chemical , which increased 4.2 per cent or S$0.003 to S$0.074, with 3.4 million shares changing hands. 

The trio of banks also rose in early trade. DBS gained 1.3 per cent or S$0.42 to S$33.05, while UOB climbed 1.3 per cent or S$0.33 to S$26.48. OCBC also advanced 1 per cent or S$0.12 to S$11.71. 

Active index counters included Yangzijiang Shipbuilding , which increased 1.7 per cent or S$0.02 to S$1.17, and Keppel Corp , which climbed 2.1 per cent or S$0.14 to S$6.90. 

In the US, Wall Street tracked gains on Thursday, reversing early losses and rallying after disappointing US inflation data. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 30,038.72, up 2.8 per cent and nearly 1,400 points above its session low point. The broad-based S&P 500 jumped 2.6 per cent to 3,669.91, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 2.2 per cent to 10,649.15. 

Likewise in Europe, stocks climbed Thursday, rebounding after a near two-year low after US inflation data spurred bets of aggressive interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. 

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The pan-European Stoxx 600 shuttled between positive and negative territory throughout the session before closing up 0.9 per cent and snapping a six-day losing streak. 

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo markets opened higher on Friday, chasing gains made on Wall Street. 

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.59 per cent or 416.73 points to 26,654.15 in early trade, while the broader Topix index rose 1.49 per cent or 27.6 points to 1,882.21.