Singapore stocks open higher on Friday; STI up 0.3%
SINGAPORE stocks rose in early trade on Friday (Mar 3), following gains in US and Europe markets.
The Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.3 per cent or 9.5 points to 3,244.4 as at 9.01 am. Gainers outnumbered losers 80 to 41 after 216.1 million securities worth S$83.6 million changed hands.
Sembcorp Marine was the most actively traded on Friday morning, with 158 million of its securities changing hands. The counter was down 2.6 per cent or S$0.003 at S$0.112.
Singtel was actively traded in terms of volume as well, with 4.7 million shares changing hands on Friday morning. The telecommunications company was up 0.8 per cent or S$0.02 to S$2.41.
Genting Singapore was also among the top five actively traded counters in terms of volume, with 2.7 million of its shares changing hands in early trade. The casino operator was up 1 per cent or S$0.01 at S$1.05.
The trio of local banks experienced gains on Friday morning. DBS was up 0.2 per cent or S$0.07 to S$33.62, while OCBC also rose 1.1 per cent or S$0.13 to S$12.56. UOB increased 0.6 per cent or S$0.18 to S$29.83.
Wall Street stocks ended higher on Thursday as investors engaged in bargain-hunting after a recent sell off, despite concerns over more rate hikes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1 per cent to close at 33,003.57. The broad-based S&P 500 also increased 0.8 per cent to 3,981.35. Meanwhile, the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.7 per cent to 11,462.98.
Europe shares ended higher, lifted higher by consumer staples and energy stocks, although data suggesting eurozone inflation remained persistently high reinforced concerns of more European Central Bank rate hikes. The Stoxx 600 rose 0.5 per cent to close at 460.02.
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