Singapore shares rise at Friday’s open; STI up 0.2%
Michelle Zhu
SINGAPORE stocks edged higher at the opening bell on Friday (Dec 29), tracking Wall Street gains.
The Straits Times Index (STI) inched up 7.87 points or 0.2 per cent to 3,222.27 as at 9.01 am. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 71 to 37 after 68.2 million securities worth S$38.4 million changed hands.
Seatrium was the most active counter of the morning in terms of volume, staying flat at S$0.118 with 43.9 million of its shares moved in early trade.
Other actively traded counters included property management and media company The Place Holdings, which dipped S$0.001 or 12.5 per cent to S$0.007, while index counter Genting Singapore gained S$0.005 or 0.5 per cent to S$0.995.
Local banks were a sea of green at the open with DBS leading gains at S$33.15, up S$0.11 or 0.3 per cent. OCBC advanced S$0.05 or 0.4 per cent to S$12.97, and UOB added S$0.01 to remain nearly flat at S$28.39.
US equities ended Thursday on a positive note with the Dow Jones Industrial Average edging to a fresh record as investors prepared themselves for big annual gains.
The blue-chip index put on 0.1 per cent to 37,710.1, notching a second straight all-time closing high. The broad-based S&P 500 climbed less than 0.1 per cent to 4,783.35, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was essentially flat at 15,095.14.
Shares in Europe, however, inched lower on Thursday as weakness in banking stocks and oil majors weighed.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 slipped 0.1 per cent to close at 478.08.
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