Singapore stocks open higher on Wednesday; STI up 0.3%

SINGAPORE shares opened higher on Wednesday (Jun 14), following significant gains in global markets on mild US inflation data and positive sentiments of a possible pause in interest rate hikes. 

As at 9.01 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) was up 8.36 points or 0.3 per cent to 3,197.76. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 80 to 32 after 73.1 million securities worth S$61.4 million changed hands.

Seatrium was the top-traded counter by volume with 27 million shares transacted, although it remained flat at S$0.125. 

Thai Beverage was also briskly traded, declining 0.9 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.57.

Koh Brothers Eco Engineering rose 6.1 per cent or S$0.002 to S$0.035, after news that its subsidiary and joint venture partner LBD Engineering obtained a S$186 million contract from the Housing and Development Board.

The three local banks were mixed in early trade. DBS gained 0.7 per cent or S$0.20 to S$31.10. OCBC rose 0.2 per cent or S$0.03 to S$12.38, while UOB lost 0.1 per cent or S$0.03 to S$27.97.  

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Stocks to watch: Koh Brothers Eco Engineering, EC World Reit

All three major US indices closed higher on Tuesday, as cooling inflation data raised expectations that the Federal Reserve would not raise the interest rate for the first time in more than a year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4 per cent or 145.79 points to 34,212.12. The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.7 per cent or 30.08 points to 4,369.01, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.8 per cent or 111.4 points to 13,573.32.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.6 per cent or 2.54 points higher at 463.27 on Tuesday, as the US annual inflation increase was the smallest in more than two years, and investors were upbeat about a possible Federal Reserve interest rate pause.