Companies & Markets

Singapore shares open higher on Friday amid easing US-Iran tensions; STI up 0.1%

Published Fri, Jan 10, 2020 · 01:32 AM

SINGAPORE shares opened higher on Friday after US stocks surged to fresh records following a de-escalation of US-Iran tensions. Singapore's Straits Times Index gained 3.16 points or 0.1 per cent to 3,250.64 as at 9.06am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 91 to 54, after 107.4 million securities worth S$98.2 million changed hands.

SunMoon Food was the most traded counter by volume in the morning, rising S$0.008 or 15.7 per cent to S$0.059 after 14.4 million shares were traded. This comes after the fruits distributor said it had entered into a settlement agreement with a supplier, Wismettac Foods, for the US$1.2 million owed by its wholly-owned subsidiary SunMoon Distribution & Trading.

Other actives included AusGroup which was up S$0.003 or 6.5 per cent to S$0.049 with 11.2 million shares changing hands, and P5 Capital which gained S$0.002 or 6.3 per cent to S$0.034 on 4.8 million shares traded. Index stock Singtel slipped S$0.05 or 1.5 per cent to S$3.31 after 2.9 million shares changed hands.

All three local banks were in the green in early trade. DBS jumped S$0.19 or 0.7 per cent to S$26.05, UOB gained S$0.08 or 0.3 per cent to S$26.87, and OCBC rose S$0.03 or 0.3 per cent to S$11.06.

US stocks surged to fresh records on Thursday as investors took heart that the US-Iran conflict is not escalating and a trade deal with China is likely to be signed.

The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.7 per cent at 28,956.90, the S&P 500 gained 0.7 per cent to close at 3,274.70 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.8 per cent to end at 9,203.43.

European stocks picked up their record rally on Thursday as the pan-regional Stoxx 600 hit an intraday record high in Thursday's session, rising for the third straight day to close up 0.3 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks also opened higher. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index edged up 0.31 per cent or 73.16 points to 23,813.03 while the broader Topix index was up 0.35 per cent or 6.07 points at 1,735.12.