Singapore stocks rise at Thursday's open; STI up 0.06%

SINGAPORE shares inched up in early trade on Thursday (Jan 13) as Wall Street chalked up gains for a second straight day.

The Straits Times Index (STI) moved up 0.06 per cent or 1.82 points to 3,256.8 as at 9.02 am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 83 to 41, after 101.5 million securities worth S$61.8 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was Catalist-listed company DISA 532 , which was up 28.6 per cent or S$0.002 at S$0.009, after 51.6 million shares were traded.

Property developer Hatten Land PH0 was also actively traded at the open, up 4.1 per cent or S$0.002, at S$0.051, with 9.3 million shares changing hands.

Index counter Thai Beverage Y92 was the third most actively traded securities on Thursday morning, with 8.4 million shares traded. The counter traded flat at S$0.65.

The trio of local banks were mixed at the open.

As at 9.02 am, DBS D05 was down S$0.02 or 0.06 per cent to trade at S$35.49, while UOB U11 traded flat at S$29.44. However, OCBC O39 was up S$0.01 or 0.08 per cent to reach S$12.23.

Over on Wall Street, US stocks finished a choppy session modestly higher on Wednesday (Jan 12), following data showing another spike in consumer prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1 per cent to 36,290.32. The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.3 per cent to 4,726.35, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.2 per cent to 15,188.39.

Meanwhile, European stocks also ended higher on Wednesday, supported by commodity-linked stocks which rose on hopes of more stimulus in major importer China, while easing bond yields took pressure off the technology sector.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed up 0.7 per cent at 486.20, with the basic resources and energy sectors up 3.2 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Thursday after surging the previous day, despite gains on Wall Street following data showing another spike in consumer prices.

The benchmark Nikkei index fell 0.37 per cent, or 107.44 points, to 28,658.22 at the open, while the broader Topix index was down 0.27 per cent, or 5.38 points, to 2,013.98.