Singapore shares open 14 points higher on Thursday

SINGAPORE stocks opened 13.97 points or 0.49 per cent higher at 2,882.71 in the opening minutes of trade on Thursday. As at 9.01am, some 73.5 million shares worth S$82.8 million changed hands, ahead of the Federal Reserve's decision on whether to raise interest rates for the first time in nine years. Gainers outnumbered losers 82 to 57.

US stocks rose strongly for a second straight session with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 140.10 points (0.84 per cent) to 16,739.95. The broad-based S&P 500 rose 17.22 points (0.87 per cent) to 1,995.31, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 28.72 points (0.59 per cent) to 4,889.24.