Singapore shares rise on Monday, tracking Wall Street gains; STI up 0.8%

SINGAPORE stocks edged up on Monday (Jan 8) morning, tracking Wall Street gains at the end of the previous week.

Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.8 per cent or 24.55 points to 3,208.85 as at 9.03 am. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 78 to 42, after 63.8 million securities worth S$46.6 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was Seatrium , which held steady at S$0.113 with 23.3 million shares transacted. Other heavily traded securities included Singtel , which gained 1.3 per cent or S$0.03 to S$2.38 with 3.1 million shares transacted, as well as Thai Beverage , which remained flat at S$0.54 with 2.2 million shares traded.

Banking stocks rose in early morning trade. DBS was trading up 0.9 per cent or S$0.28 at S$33.18. UOB gained 1.2 per cent or S$0.33 to S$28.67, while OCBC rose 0.7 per cent or S$0.09 to S$12.90.

US indices closed Friday marginally higher despite unexpectedly strong job market data undermining the rates cute case. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 13.77 points or 0.1 per cent to 14,524.07. The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 8.56 points or 0.2 per cent to end at 4,697.24 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1 per cent to 37,466.11.

Over in Europe, shares logged the first weekly loss as investors digested mixed global economic data. The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended 0.3 per cent lower at 476.38, recouping some losses after falling over 1 per cent during the day, for a 0.5 per cent weekly decline.