Singapore shares open higher on Monday; STI up 0.19% to 3,084.19

SINGAPORE shares started Monday on higher ground, following a US trading session that was buoyed by positive US jobs growth data on Friday. The Straits Times Index gained 5.83 points or 0.19 per cent to 3,084.19 as at 9.03am.

About 28 million shares worth S$66.2 million changed hands, which worked out to an average unit price of about S$2.37 per share.

Gainers outnumbered losers 66 to 34.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was heavily traded, up S$0.02 or 2.1 per cent to S$0.965 after 5.4 million shares changed hands.

Other heavily traded securities included Rex International, which was up S$0.002 or 2.6 per cent to S$0.079 and Suntec Reit, which was down S$0.02 or 1.1 per cent to S$1.86.

Among financials, all three local banks gained ground with DBS advancing S$0.08 or 0.3 per cent to S$24.63, OCBC gaining S$0.02 or 0.2 per cent to S$10.64 and UOB up S$0.09 or 0.4 per cent to S$25.26.

Among other index stocks, Singtel was trading up S$0.01 or 0.3 per cent to S$3.11 and Keppel Corp was up S$0.08 or 1.4 per cent to S$5.89 on news that its offshore and marine unit had reached a settlement for drilling rigs involved in a corruption probe in Brazil.

Wall Street surged on Friday after moderate jobs growth in September offered relief from a spate of dismal economic data last week that fuelled concerns that the world's largest economy may be sliding into a recession.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.42 per cent to close at 26,573.72 points, while the S&P 500 also surged 1.42 per cent, finishing at 2,952.01. The Nasdaq Composite added 1.4 per cent to end at 7,982.47.

European shares also surged on Friday following news of US jobs growth in September, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index rising 0.7 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan opened higher with its benchmark Nikkei 225 index up 0.19 per cent or 41.43 points at 21,451.63 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.25 per cent or 4.01 points at 1,576.91.