Singapore stocks open higher on Wednesday; STI up 0.1%
SINGAPORE stocks rose in early trade on Wednesday (Mar 1), following losses in US and Europe markets.
The Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.1 per cent or 3 points to 3,265.63 as at 9.01 am. Losers outnumbered gainers 71 to 65 after 204.5 million securities worth S$124.2 million changed hands.
Sembcorp Marine was the most actively traded on Wednesday morning, with 131.7 million of its securities changing hands at the open. The counter was down 3.9 per cent or S$0.005 at S$0.122.
Thai Beverage was also actively traded in terms of volume, with 10.9 million shares changing hands on Wednesday morning. The beverage company was down 1.6 per cent or S$0.01 to S$0.63.
Singte l was also among the top five actively traded counters in terms of volume, with 5.1 million of its shares changing hands in early trade. The telecommunications company was up 0.8 per cent or S$0.02 at S$2.39.
The trio of local banks experienced mixed activity on Wednesday morning. DBS was up 0.2 per cent or S$0.07 to S$34.24, while UOB also rose 0.2 per cent or S$0.05 to S$29.97. Meanwhile, OCBC was down 0.2 per cent or S$0.02 to S$12.65.
Wall Street stocks ended lower on Tuesday on disappointing consumer confidence data, while US Treasury bond yields slipped lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.7 per cent to close at 32,656.70, while the broad-based S&P 500 also dropped 0.3 per cent to 3,970.15. Meanwhile, the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.1 per cent to 11,455.54.
Europe shares ended lower, after rising inflation data from France and Spain, although they still ended their second straight month higher on sharp gains in rate-sensitive banking stocks. The Stoxx 600 declined 0.3 per cent to 461.11 at the close.
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