Singapore stocks rise at Tuesday's open; STI up 0.3%

SINGAPORE shares rose in early trade on Tuesday (Jan 18), with the Straits Times Index (STI) rising by 0.3 per cent or 10.46 points to 3,298.41 as at 9.03 am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 74 to 33 after 34.28 million securities worth S$52.3 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was Shen Yao A78 , which traded flat on Tuesday morning at S$0.003 with 4.8 million shares changing hands.

Other heavily traded securities include Disa 532 , which rose 12.5 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.009 with 4 million shares traded.

Index counters ThaiBev Y92 and Capitaland Integrated Commercial Trust C38U were also among the most actively traded securities. ThaiBev was up 0.8 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.645, while units of the Reit were up 1 per cent or S$0.02 to S$2.01.

The trio of local banks rose in early trade. DBS D05 ticked up 0.3 per cent or S$0.09 to S$36.09, UOB U11 climbed 0.1 per cent or S$0.04 to S$30.22, while OCBC O39 rose 0.4 per cent or S$0.05 to S$12.35 as at 9.03 am.

Over on Wall Street, stock markets were closed on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Meanwhile, European shares closed higher on Monday, with healthcare stocks lifted by M&A activity, while Credit Suisse slipped after its chairman quit after an internal probe into his personal conduct. Healthcare stocks were up and the pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.7 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Tuesday as investors awaited the Bank of Japan's policy decision and its governor's press conference for his views on the Japanese economy.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.5 per cent or 137.2 points at 28,470.72 in early trade, while the broader Topix index advanced 0.4 per cent or 8.58 points to 1,995.29.