Singapore shares inch up on Tuesday amid thin trading; STI up 0.1%
Vivienne Tay
SINGAPORE stocks started the week in slightly positive territory amid thin trading on Tuesday (Dec 26), as the market resumed following the Christmas holiday weekend.
The Straits Times Index (STI) headed up 0.1 per cent or 4.24 points to 3144.56 as at 9.01 am. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 72 to 34, after 24.9 million securities worth S$17.5 million changed hands.
One of the most active counters by volume was Seatrium , which held steady at S$0.112 with 1.7 million shares traded.
Other heavily traded securities included Biolidics , which remained unchanged at S$0.013 with 1.4 million shares traded and mm2 Asia , which was flat at S$0.032 with 1.1 million shares traded.
On Friday, the media and entertainment company’s shareholders approved a transaction allowing mm2 chairman Melvin Ang to pay S$6.1 million to participate in a one-for-two rights issue at S$0.02 per rights share. Majority of shareholders approve the transfer of controlling interest to two substantial shareholders, Oei Hong Leong and Sam Goi.
Banking stocks opened mostly higher during early morning trade. DBS added 0.3 per cent or S$0.09 to S$32.09, UOB rose 0.2 per cent or S$0.04 to S$27.64, while OCBC held steady at S$12.66.
Many exchanges across the globe remained closed for the Christmas holiday. On Friday, US stocks reversed earlier gains as investors rested ahead of the long weekend after weighing cooler-than-expected inflation data, which firmed bets for interest rate cuts next year.
The broad-based S&P 500 finished 0.2 per cent higher at 4,754.63 for the day and up 0.8 per cent for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1 per cent to 37,385.97, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.2 per cent at 14,992.97.
In Europe, stocks closed muted on Friday. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index edged up 0.1 per cent, notching its sixth week of gains in a row – a winning streak last seen in December 2022.
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