Singapore shares open 0.62% higher on Thursday

SINGAPORE share prices opened higher on Thursday with the Straits Times Index up 17.54 points or 0.62 per cent to 2,827.97 as at 9.01am, following a Wall Street rebound and strengthening crude oil prices on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 36.26 points to 17,000.36 while S&P 500 gained 10 points to 1,989.26 on Wednesday. US stocks were lifted by a resumption in the improvement of crude oil prices and expectations of a further deposit rate cut to be unveiled by the European Central Bank on Thursday.

Brent rose US$1.42 to settle at US$41.07 a barrel, while US crude gained US$1.79 to US$38.29.

Top gainers in early-morning trade in Singapore on Thursday included ComfortDelGro, Singapore Telecommunications and DBS.

Some 88.1 million shares worth S$55.5 million changed hands, with gainers outnumbering losers 111 to 22.