Singapore shares buck Wall Street losses on Monday; STI up 0.3%

SINGAPORE shares opened in positive territory on Monday (Dec 19), bucking against losses on Wall Street on Friday.

The Straits Times Index rose 9.94 points, or 0.3 per cent to 3,250.75 after 42.6 million shares worth S$60.1 million changed hands as at 9.02am. Advancers outweighed decliners 63 to 56.

Telco operator Singtel was the top traded security by volume during early trade on Monday. Shares of Singtel opened up 1.2 per cent or S$0.03 to S$2.57 as 3.4 million shares were traded.

Sembcorp Marine also saw brisk trading activity after 2.7 million securities changed hands. The counter opened flat at S$0.142 as at 9am.

Index stock Wilmar International was up 0.7 per cent, or S$0.03, at S$4.15 as 2.4 million shares were traded.

The trio of local banks reflected positive gains at the opening bell on Monday. DBS rose S$0.10 or 0.3 per cent to S$33.94; UOB gained S$0.18 or 0.6 per cent to S$30.90, while OCBC grew S$0.06 or 0.5 per cent to S$12.25 as at 9.01am.

Over on Wall Street, stock markets dropped further on prospects of more aggressive interest rate hikes to fight inflation, renewing concerns over the global economy entering recession next year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 281.76 points, or 0.85 per cent, to 32,920.46; the S&P 500 lost 43.39 points, or 1.11 per cent, to 3,852.36; and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 105.11 points, or 0.97 per cent, to 10,705.41.

Shares in Europe closed similarly weak after major central banks flagged further rate hikes and economic activity data from the eurozone failed to assuage concerns of a looming recession.

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The Europe-wide Stoxx 600 index closed 1.2 per cent lower on Friday, ending the week with a loss of nearly 3.3 per cent.