Singapore shares advance after GDP estimates; STI up 0.3% at Friday’s open

SINGAPORE stocks started Friday (Jul 14) on an optimistic note, following news that gross domestic product was estimated to grow 0.7 per cent year on year in the second quarter of 2023 by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.3 per cent or 9.25 points to 3,247.71 as at 9.03 am.

Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 85 to 27, or about three securities up for every one down, after 106.3 million securities worth S$70.9 million changed hands.

As at 9.02 am, the most active counter by volume was Seatrium , which gained 1.4 per cent, or S$0.002, to S$0.146 with 53 million shares changing hands.

Thai Beverage , the second most heavily traded counter, gained 0.9 per cent, or S$0.005, to S$0.585 with 6.9 million shares traded.

Another heavily traded counter was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding , which rose 0.7 per cent, or S$0.01, to S$1.54 with 3.9 million shares traded.

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Banking stocks rose in early morning trade. DBS was trading up 0.3 per cent or S$0.09 at S$31.96 as at 9.02 am. UOB was up 0.3 per cent or S$0.07 to S$27.87, and OCBC rose 0.3 per cent, or S$0.04 to S$12.39.

US indices closed on Thursday higher for a fourth straight day on benign inflation data and good corporate earnings. The broad-based S&P 500 ended up 0.9 per cent at 4,510.04, logging its highest close since Apr 5, 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1 per cent at 34,395.14, and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.6 per cent to 14,138.57.

European stocks also rose with growing optimism on cooling US inflation. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index ended 0.6 per cent higher, extending gains to the fifth straight day.