Singapore shares open higher on Thursday; STI up 0.4%

SINGAPORE shares started Thursday (Dec 8) on a strong note, bucking the trend of overnight declines in the US and Europe.

The Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.4 per cent or 13.3 points to 3,238.75 as at 9.03 am. Gainers outnumbered losers 70 to 39 after 38.3 million securities worth S$54.6 million changed hands.

Sembcorp Marine was the top traded counter of the morning by volume with 4.1 million shares traded, though its share price remained flat at S$0.142. Meanwhile, watch-listed retailer Parkson Retail Asia saw active trading as well, gaining S$0.002 or 2.5 per cent to reach S$0.083 as at 9.03 am.

Index counter Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was also heavily transacted on Thursday morning, falling S$0.01 or 0.7 per cent to S$1.37 with 3.4 million securities traded.

The trio of local banks were trading mixed at the open. DBS shedded S$0.03 or 0.1 per cent to S$33.47 while OCBC rose S$0.14 or 1.15 to trade at S$12.32, and UOB gained S$0.21 or 0.7 per cent to S$30.77 as at 9.03 am.

US stocks ended a choppy session mostly lower on Wednesday as markets weighed recession worries, ahead of closely watched consumer price data next week and a Federal Reserve decision on monetary policy.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished flat at 33,587.92. The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 0.2 per cent to 3,933.92, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.5 per cent to 10,958.55.

Meanwhile, shares in Europe fell for a fourth straight session on Wednesday amid global recession fears grew, although losses were limited by gains in healthcare stocks.

Taking cues from Wall Street declines overnight, the Stoxx 600 closed 0.6 per cent lower at 436.2 with energy stocks leading declines.