Singapore stocks rise at Monday's open; STI up 0.1%

SINGAPORE shares opened slightly higher on Monday, after the Dow and S&P 500 reached their second consecutive record on Friday.

The Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.1 per cent or 3.07 points to 3,204.83 as at 9.01am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 97 to 27, after 114.6 million securities worth S$68.2 million changed hands.

Sembcorp Marine was the most actively traded counter, with 41.7 million shares worth S$8.6 million changing hands as at 9.01am. The shares were unchanged at 20.5 Singapore cents.

Thai Beverage Public Co also saw brisk trading, with 13.4 million shares worth S$9.5 million changing hands.

The trio of local banks were higher in early trade. DBS rose 0.5 per cent or S$0.14 to S$29.14, UOB advanced 0.3 per cent or S$0.07 to S$26.21, while OCBC gained 0.3 per cent or S$0.03 to S$11.98 as at 9.01am.

Over on Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average posted their fourth consecutive weekly gains, while the Nasdaq Composite Index saw slightly less ebullient trading.

The Dow gained 0.5 per cent to end at 34,201.13 on Friday, the broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.4 per cent to 4,185.53, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 0.1 per cent to 14,052.34, about 125 points below its all-time high.

European shares ended at a record high on Friday, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 rising 0.9 per cent or 3.94 points to 442.49.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Monday. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.3 per cent or 95.93 points to 29,587.44, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.3 per cent or 5.61 points to 1,955.26.