Singapore stocks rise at Friday's open; STI up 0.2%

SINGAPORE shares rose in early trade on Friday (Jan 14) even as US markets returned to the red on Thursday following mixed economic data.

The Straits Times Index (STI) moved up 0.2 per cent or 6.98 points to 3,264.28 as at 9.03 am.

Losers outnumbered gainers 61 to 58, after 38.7 million securities worth S$55 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was Catalist-listed company Disa 532 , which traded flat at S$0.009, after 6.1 million shares were traded.

Thomson Medical A50 was also actively traded at the open, trading up 1.2 per cent or S$0.001, at S$0.085, with 3 million shares changing hands.

Index counter Yangzijiang Shipbuilding BS6 was among the most actively traded securities on Friday morning, with 1.9 million shares traded. The counter traded down 0.7 per cent or S$0.01 at S$1.34.

The trio of local banks all rose at the open.

As at 9.03 am, UOB U11 traded up 1.2 per cent or S$0.35 at S$29.53, shortly after announcing that it has agreed to acquire Citigroup's consumer businesses in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

DBS D05 traded up S$0.11 or 0.3 per cent at S$35.61, while OCBC O39 was up S$0.01 or 0.1 per cent to reach S$12.25.

Over on Wall Street, US markets were back in the red on Thursday after 2 days up. Tech shares resumed a sell-off, leading US equities lower as investors re-adjust equity holdings amid expectations for higher interest rates.

The tech-rich Nasdaq dropped 2.5 per cent to 14,806.81. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.5 per cent to 35,113.62, while the broad-based S&P 500 tumbled 1.4 per cent to 4,659.03.

Meanwhile, European stocks were muted on Thursday as losses in defensive sectors were matched by gains in automakers and technology stocks on hopes of improving semiconductor supply.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended largely unchanged at 486.05 points, with shares in healthcare, and personal and household goods falling the most, down 0.9 per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Friday after US tech shares dived on expectations of higher interest rates.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 1.5 per cent or 421.69 points to 28,067.44 in early trade, while the broader Topix index lost 1.4 per cent or 27.33 points to 1,978.25.