Singapore shares rise at Friday’s open, tracking Wall Street rally; STI up 0.3%

SINGAPORE stocks were pulled into positive territory on Friday (Sep 29), following overnight gains on Wall Street and Europe.

The Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.3 per cent or nine points to 3,215.99 as at 9.01 am. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 75 to 26, or about three securities up for every one down; 31 million securities worth S$45.1 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was Keppel Infrastructure Trust , which slid 3.2 per cent or S$0.015 to S$0.45, with 4.4 million shares traded.

Other heavily traded securities included Seatrium , up 0.8 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.132, and Genting Singapore , which lost 0.6 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.85 with 2.3 million shares traded.

Banking stocks rose in early morning trade. DBS rose 0.1 per cent or S$0.04 to S$33.54, UOB gained 0.3 per cent or S$0.08 to S$28.36, while OCBC advanced 0.6 per cent or S$0.08 to S$12.88.

In the US, stocks rallied on Thursday as Treasury yields eased. All three major indices closed higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average crept up 0.4 per cent to 33,666.34. The broad-based S&P 500 rose by 0.6 per cent to 4,299.7, and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.8 per cent to 13,201.28.

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European shares, meanwhile, managed to snap a five-day losing streak, closing slightly higher on Thursday, with gains in mining stocks. Investors were also heartened by preliminary data, which showed that German inflation rose less than expected in September. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index finished 0.4 per cent higher at 448.5, while Spain’s Ibex index outperformed its peers, rising 1 per cent.