Singapore stocks rise at Monday’s open; STI up 0.1%

SINGAPORE shares inched up at the opening bell on Monday (Apr 22) morning, eking out a gain despite subdued performance in global markets.

As at 9.01 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) rose 3.56 points or 0.1 per cent to 3,180.07. Across the broader market, advancers outnumbered decliners 79 to 36 after 38 million securities worth S$47.3 million changed hands. 

Seatrium was the most heavily traded counter by volume. The counter remained unchanged at S$0.077, after 12.6 million securities were transacted. 

Other counters that were briskly traded included Genting Singapore which was up 0.5 per cent or S$0.005 at S$0.925, after 1.8 million shares changed hands, and King Wan which traded flat at S$0.027, after 1.5 million securities were exchanged.

As for banking stocks, DBS , which began trading ex-bonus on Monday, with one bonus share being credited for every 10 ordinary shares held, opened 9.5 per cent or S$3.47 lower at S$32.94. OCBC advanced 0.3 per cent or S$0.04 to S$13.73, and UOB climbed 0.2 per cent or S$0.07 to S$30.

Over on Wall Street, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 closed in the red on Friday, partially attributed by analysts to Netflix’s lower than expected financial earnings. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 2.1 per cent to 15,282.01, while the broad-based S&P 500 declined 0.9 per cent to 4,967.23. 

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average was partially boosted by hotter than expected first-quarter financial results from payments company American Express, closing up 0.6 per cent at 37,986.40.

In Europe, shares ended little changed on Friday, following a third straight week of declines amid geopolitical tensions and investor worries over delayed interest rate cuts. The pan-European Stoxx 600 slipped 0.1 per cent to close at 499.29.