Singapore stocks rise at Thursday's open; STI up 0.8%

SINGAPORE stocks opened higher on Thursday morning, mirroring the jump in stock markets on Wall Street.

The Straits Times Index (STI) climbed 0.8 per cent or 24.14 points to 3,133.79 as at 9.03 am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 115 to 31 after 93.5 million securities worth S$100.91 million changed hands.

Metal Component Engineering shares were the most actively traded securities by volume, with 15.1 million shares being traded within the first five minutes of the open. The counter rose 3.9 per cent or 0.1 Singapore cent to 2.7 cents. Sembcorp Marine shares were also among the highest traded securities by volume, with 9.3 million shares being traded. The counter edged up 1.2 per cent or 0.2 Singapore cent to 16.4 cents.

Among index counters, CapitaLand was the top gainer, rising 1.5 per cent or S$0.05 to S$3.34 as at 9.05am. On the other hand, Hongkong Land was the top loser as it fell 0.4 per cent or US$0.02 to US$5.01.

The trio of local banks were trading higher on Thursday morning. DBS was up 0.9 per cent or S$0.24 to S$28.26. UOB rose 0.7 per cent or S$0.18 to S$25.70 and OCBC inched up 0.6 per cent or S$0.07 to S$11.65 as at 9.05am.

Over on Wall Street, the Federal Reserve's improved economic outlook and willingness to maintain low rates pushed stock markets to a high at market close.

The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6 per cent to finish at 33,015.37, its first close above the 33,000-point mark. The broad-based S&P 500 also climbed to a record after gaining 0.3 per cent to end at 3,974.12, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.4 per cent to 13,525.20.

European shares dipped at market close, amid the record movements at Wall Street. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 0.5 per cent, trading below a one-year peak, with the utilities and basic resources sectors leading declines.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher, tracking the gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.2 per cent or 363.58 points at 30,277.91 in early trade, while the broader Topix index advanced 0.8 per cent or 14.98 points to 1,999.01.