Singapore shares rise at Friday’s open; STI up 0.3%

SINGAPORE stocks were pulled into positive territory on Friday (Jul 28), with banks leading gains, even as US stocks lost momentum on Thursday amid rising fears over interest rate hikes.

The Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.3 per cent or 10.36 points to 3,347.78 as at 9.03 am. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 76 to 57, after 183.1 million securities worth S$117.1 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was Seatrium , which fell 4.8 per cent or S$0.007 to S$0.139, with 146.5 million shares traded. On Friday, the offshore and marine group posted a net loss of S$264.4 million for its first half ended Jun 30, widening from S$142.9 million a year earlier,

Keppel Real Estate Investment Trust was down 1.6 per cent or S$0.015 to S$0.905, with 4.2 million units traded, while Genting Singapore held steady at S$0.945, with 2.7 million shares traded.

Singapore Airlines , which reported a record quarterly performance on Thursday night, remained unchanged at S$7.52 amid heavy trading, with 1.5 million shares changing hands.

Banking stocks rose in early morning trade. DBS was trading 0.7 per cent or S$0.23 higher at S$33.99, rose 1.4 per cent or S$0.40 to S$29.32, while OCBC added 0.5 per cent or S$0.06 to S$13.13.

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Singapore stocks extend gains amid bets Fed rate hikes likely over; STI up 1%

Stocks to watch: SIA, Keppel, Seatrium, Clas, Sheng Siong, CDLHT, FEHT

Wall Street stocks slipped on Thursday as concerns over higher interest rates re-emerged, breaking the Dow’s 13-day rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.7 per cent to end the day at 35,282.72. The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.6 per cent to 4,537.48, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.6 per cent at 14,050.11.

In Europe, blue-chip stocks climbed to a 15-year high on Thursday amid investor optimism that the European Central Bank was nearing the end of its tightening cycle. The Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 2.3 per cent, while the pan-European Stoxx 600 index added 1.4 per cent to 471.74, reaching a 17-month high.