Singapore stocks open higher on Tuesday; STI up 0.2%

SINGAPORE stocks opened stronger on Tuesday (Jun 18) following overnight gains on global markets.

The Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.2 per cent or 6.22 points to 3,303.77 as at 9.02 am. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 96 to 56 after 41.8 million securities worth S$60 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was Seatrium , which lost 3.6 per cent or S$0.06 at S$1.61 with 4.5 million shares changing hands. Other heavily traded securities included Singtel , which gained 0.4 per cent or S$0.01 at S$2.56 with 2.1 million shares transacted, and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding , which lost 1.6 per cent or S$0.04 to S$2.41.

Banking stocks rose in early morning trade. DBS was trading up 0.3 per cent or S$0.11 at S$35.59. UOB was up 0.1 per cent or S$0.04 to S$30.61, while OCBC rose 0.6 per cent, or S$0.08, to S$14.22.

US stocks started Monday on a strong note amid investors’ continued enthusiasm over artificial intelligence. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index led the major indices, climbing 1 per cent to 17,857.02, a closing record for the sixth straight day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.5 per cent to 38,778.10, while the broad-based S&P 500 also finished at an all-time high, rising 0.8 per cent to 5,473.23.

Over in Europe, shares closed marginally higher as markets rebounded from last week’s losses. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed up 0.1 per cent, coming off its worst weekly percentage fall so far this year.