Singapore stocks rise at Monday's open; STI up 0.4%

SINGAPORE stocks rose in early trade on Monday (Nov 8), following a strong showing at Wall Street last week.

The Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.4 per cent or 14.28 points to 3,256.62 as at 9.01 am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 91 to 39 after 63 million securities worth S$63.5 million changed hands.

Oceanus shares were among the most actively traded securities on Monday morning, with 11.2 million shares changing hands as at 9.01 am. The counter remained flat at S$0.039.

Among index counters, Singtel was the top gainer on Monday morning, rising 1.2 per cent or S$0.03 to S$2.57 as at 9.01 am.

Shares of Jiutian Chemical were also among the top 5 actively traded counters in terms of volume. Its units were down 2.4 per cent or S$0.002 to S$0.08 as at 9.01 am. Jiutian Chemical's controlling shareholder, Anyang Chemical Industry Group, is undergoing an asset and debt restructuring exercise. The board in a bourse filing on Nov 1, said the exercise would not affect the operation of the group.

The trio of local banks were also trading higher on Monday morning. DBS was up 0.3 per cent or S$0.09 to S$32.38, UOB rose 0.6 per cent or S$0.17 to S$27.76, while OCBC inched up 0.3 per cent or S$0.04 to S$12.01 as at 9.01 am.

In the US, main indices scored record closing highs on Friday (Nov 5) following a strong US jobs report and positive data for Pfizer's experimental pill against Covid-19.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 203.72 points or 0.6 per cent to 36,327.95, the S&P 500 gained 17.47 points or 0.4 per cent to 4,697.53, and the Nasdaq Composite added 31.28 points or 0.2 per cent to 15,971.59.

European stocks wrapped up another week of gains on Friday (Nov 5), led by advances in travel stocks and amid optimism about earnings season.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended flat, but clocked 1.7 per cent in weekly gains, its fifth consecutive week in the green.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Monday (Nov 8) following Wall Street's strong performance.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.30 per cent or 88.65 points at 29,700.22 in early trade, while the broader Topix index increased 0.4 per cent or 7.13 points to 2,048.55.