Singapore stocks: STI resumes Tuesday afternoon at 3,090.81, up 0.3% on day

SINGAPORE shares resumed trading in positive territory on Tuesday, with the Straits Times Index gaining 0.3 per cent, or 7.85 points to 3,090.81 as at 1.02pm.

Gainers edged out losers slightly at 148 to 142, after about 483.1 million shares worth S$240.7 million changed hands.

Among the most heavily traded by volume, Rex International was flat at eight Singapore cents, with 36.7 million shares traded, while YZJ Shipbuilding gained 1.1 per cent, or one cent to 91.5 cents, with 11.4 million shares traded.

Banking stocks traded mixed by the afternoon trade - DBS lost 0.1 per cent, or three cents to S$24.32, OCBC added 0.4 per cent, or four cents to S$10.67, while UOB slipped 0.3 per cent, or eight cents to S$24.92.

Other active stocks included Sembcorp Marine which gained 1.7 per cent, or two cents to S$1.18, and Sembcorp Industries which rose almost 2 per cent, or four cents to S$2.08.

This comes after CGS-CIMB analyst Lim Siew Khee said in a recent research note that she expects Sembcorp Industries to gain from the ongoing US-China trade war. "Its urban development division will be a direct beneficiary from the rising Asean growth, especially if more supply chains are routed via Vietnam," Ms Lim said.

Elsewhere, Asian equities were mixed in thin trading on Tuesday as investors awaited to see if US and Chinese officials could schedule a meeting this month to resume trade talks.

Japan's Topix rose 0.6 per cent as at 12.38pm, while Australia stocks were little changed, as was the Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.2 per cent, and futures on the S&P 500 Index declined 0.5 per cent.