Singapore shares rise at Tuesday’s open; STI up 0.4%

SINGAPORE shares started Tuesday (Dec 13) on a positive note, mirroring Wall Street stocks’ overnight advances.

The Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.4 per cent or 13.48 points to 3,253.14 as at 9.01 am. Gainers outnumbered losers 80 to 35 after 42.9 million shares worth S$42.7 million changed hands.

Sembcorp Marine was the most actively traded counter by volume, with 7.3 million shares trading hands, gaining 1.4 per cent or S$0.002 to S$0.141. Watch-listed Eneco Energy continued to see active trading at the open, with 2.4 million shares traded but remained flat at S$0.012 as at 9.01 am.

Among index counters, Singtel saw 3.8 million shares traded, gaining 0.4 per cent or S$0.01 to S$2.60.

The trio of local lenders opened in a sea of green, with DBS rising 0.3 per cent or S$0.11 to S$33.74. UOB gained 0.1 per cent or S$0.02 to S$31.12, and OCBC gained 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$12.36 as at 9.01 am.

US stocks surged on Monday, regaining some of last week’s losses, as markets showed cautious optimism ahead of a key inflation data release and closely-watched Federal Reserve meeting.

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Singapore stocks end lower at start of week as rate hike bets weigh; STI down 0.2%

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.6 per cent to finish at 34,005.04, while the S&P 500 rose 1.4 per cent to land at 3,990.56. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.3 per cent as well to 11,143.74.

In contrast, shares in Europe slipped on Monday as investors braced for US and European central bank interest rate decisions, while rising Covid-19 infections in China also weighed on sentiment.

The Stoxx 600 index closed down 0.5 per cent.