Singapore shares open Thursday with strong gains; STI up 0.7%

SINGAPORE stocks kicked off Thursday (Dec 28) on a strong note, extending the global rally.

The Straits Times Index (STI) was up 20.82 points or 0.7 per cent at 3,191.58 as at 9.01 am. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 87 to 28 after 57.5 million securities worth S$57.4 million changed hands.

Shares of concrete manufacturer and supplier Abundante were the most actively traded on Thursday morning in terms of volume, with six million securities changing hands, though the counter remained flat at S$0.21.

Index stocks Seatrium and Thai Beverage (ThaiBev) were also briskly traded at the open.

Seatrium gained S$0.001 or 0.9 per cent to S$0.116 after the energy and marine solutions group announced it refinanced an existing loan facility with a S$400 million loan from DBS. Beverage manufacturer ThaiBev shed S$0.005 or 1 per cent to S$0.52.

Local banks traded decidedly higher at the open, with DBS advancing S$0.34 or 1.1 per cent to S$32.68. UOB rose S$0.20 or 0.7 per cent to S$28.10, and OCBC added S$0.11 or 0.9 per cent to S$12.89.

SEE ALSO

Stocks to watch: Seatrium, ComfortDelGro, Samudera Shipping, Koda

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Wall Street equities rose again on Wednesday, as markets remained broadly optimistic on 2024. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.3 per cent at 37,656.52, topping a record set last week. The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.1 per cent to 4,781.58, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.2 per cent to 15,099.18.

Shares in Europe edged up on Wednesday as well, on growing optimism around US interest rate cuts as early as March. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.2 per cent higher at 478.62.