Singapore shares rally at Friday’s open; STI up 1.1%

SINGAPORE stocks posted strong gains at Friday’s (Nov 3) open, after global markets rallied overnight on the latest Federal Reserve decision to hold rates steady.

The Straits Times Index (STI) was up 32.73 points or 1.1 per cent to 3,115.22 as at 9.01 am. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 125 to 21, after 82.2 million securities worth S$87.2 million changed hands.

Index counter Seatrium was the most actively traded in terms of volume, advancing S$0.002 or 1.9 per cent to S$0.11 after 19.6 million of its securities moved.

Keppel Infrastructure Trust and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding each rose S$0.03. This translated to a 6.8 per cent rise for units of the business trust to S$0.47; shares of the shipbuilder were up 2 per cent to S$1.52.

The trio of local banks opened firmly in positive territory, with DBS adding S$0.14 or 0.4 per cent to S$32.80 at the open. UOB jumped S$0.36 or 1.3 per cent to S$27.29, and OCBC climbed S$0.15 or 1.2 per cent to S$12.85. 

Wall Street stocks continued their rally to close higher on Thursday, following the Fed meeting, as traders hoped for a year-end upswing.

SEE ALSO

Stocks to watch: SIAEC, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, KIT, AA Reit, Manulife US Reit

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average piled on nearly 565 points, or 1.7 per cent to finish at 33,839.08. The broad-based S&P 500 gained 1.9 per cent to 4,317.78, and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.8 per cent to 13,294.19.

European shares climbed as well, ending Thursday with gains led by rate-sensitive real estate and technology stocks.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index touched a fresh two-week high at 443.47, up 1.6 per cent.