Singapore stocks rise at Monday's open; STI up 0.6%

SINGAPORE shares opened higher on Monday. The Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.6 per cent or 17.65 points to 3,168.69 as at 9.01am. Gainers outnumbered losers 134 to 27, with 62.9 million securities worth S$34.9 million changing hands.

Mercurius was the second most actively traded counter by volume, with 9.3 million shares worth S$650,000 traded within the first minute of market open. Its shares were at 7.2 Singapore cents, up 18 per cent or 1.1 cents from when it last traded on Wednesday.

After midnight on Monday, the group said in an update that it has commenced the drafting and preparation of the necessary legal documentation for its previously announced proposed acquisition of a groceries business in Malaysia.

Marco Polo Marine also saw brisk trading, with 8.5 million shares worth S$220,000 changing hands. Its shares gained 4 per cent or 0.1 Singapore cent to 2.6 cents.

Index stock Singtel was also actively traded, with 5.3 million shares worth S$12.6 million traded as at 9.01am. The counter was trading flat at S$2.38.

The trio of local banks were up in early trade. DBS jumped 1.6 per cent or S$0.47 to S$30.18 in early trading. UOB was up 0.7 per cent or S$0.17 to S$26.27 and OCBC gained 1 per cent or S$0.12 to S$12.48 as at 9.01am

Over on Wall Street, stocks closed with solid gains on Friday after a bumpy, holiday-shortened week, as a tepid jobs report eased concerns about the Federal Reserve pulling back on stimulus on the expanding economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.5 per cent at 34,756.39, the broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.9 per cent to close at 4,229.89 and the tech-rich Nasdaq jumped 1.5 per cent to 13,814.49.

European stocks ended high on Friday after the weak US payrolls data and optimism on a eurozone recovery. The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 0.4 per cent to a new closing high of 452.57, having earlier hit an all-time high of 452.71.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Monday, tracking gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index grew 0.9 per cent or 257.98 points to 29,199.50 in early trade, while the broader Topix index added 0.2 per cent or 3.92 points, to 1,963.11.