Singapore stocks rise at Friday’s open; STI up 1.9%

SINGAPORE stocks rose in early trade on Friday (Nov 11) to track sharp gains on Wall Street after key consumer price data raised hopes of less aggressive interest rate hikes.

The Straits Times Index (STI) rose 1.9 per cent or 61.14 points to 3,234.32 as at 9.01 am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 168 to 18 after 109.3 million securities worth S$155.9 million changed hands.

Genting Singapore shares were among the most actively traded securities on Friday morning, with 7.7 million shares changing hands as at 9.01 am. The counter rose 2.5 per cent or S$0.02 to S$0.835, after the company reported a more than 100 per cent increase in net profit for its third quarter ended Sep 30.

Shares of Thai Beverage also saw brisk activity, with five million securities transacted as at 9.01 am. Its shares were up 3.3 per cent or S$0.02 at S$0.625.

Singtel was one of the top three gainers on Friday morning, rising 1.1 per cent or S$0.03 to S$2.66 as at 9.01 am.

The trio of local banks were also trading higher on Friday morning. DBS was up 1.3 per cent or S$0.45 to S$34.99, while OCBC rose 0.5 per cent or S$0.06 to S$12.30. UOB gained 1.9 per cent or S$0.54 to stand at S$29.75 as at 9.01 am.

In the US, Wall Street stocks surged on Thursday after a closely-watched government data report showed that annual consumer price inflation eased to 7.7 per cent in October, the lowest since January.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 3.7 per cent to finish at 33,715.37, while the broad-based S&P 500 jumped 5.5 per cent to end at 3,956.37.

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The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was the big winner, soaring a whopping 7.4 per cent to 11,114.15.

European shares clocked an 11-week closing high on Thursday following the slower-than-expected rise in US consumer prices. The data strengthened hopes of less aggressive interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 jumped 2.8 per cent, notching its biggest percentage gain in five weeks. All the sectors barring energy closed sharply higher, with rate-sensitive stocks at the forefront of the buying spree.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Friday as investors cheered the rallies on Wall Street.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.4 per cent, or 393.32 points, to 27,839.42 in early trade, while the broader Topix index rose 1.3 per cent, or 25.42 points, to 1,962.08.