Singapore shares open higher on Thursday; STI up 0.4%

SINGAPORE shares opened 0.4 per cent higher on Thursday, with the Straits Times Index up 14.5 points to 3,465.19 at 9.01am as Asian stocks advanced as worries surrounding a trade war dissipated and US equities recouped losses in the last session.

Markets this week have been gripped by geopolitical developments as the possibility of an escalating global trade war had tested traders' nerves. On Wednesday, investors worried by the departure of pro-trade adviser Gary Cohn have taken solace in comments from White House Council of Economic Advisers chairman Kevin Hassett who indicated that the trade policy is not yet finalised, Bloomberg said.

On the Singapore Exchange, about 51 million shares worth S$105 million in total changed hands as gainers outnumbered losers 84 to 35.

The most actively traded stock was Genting Singapore, which fell S$0.01 to S$1.120 with 89.1 million shares changing hands.

Other actives included Allied Technologies and Nico Steel Solutions.

Active index stocks included DBS, down S$0.46 or 1.61 per cent at S$28.09; and OCBC Bank shares trading down S$0.19 or 1.42 per cent at S$13.21.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3 per cent to 24,801.36. The S&P 500 lost 0.1 per cent at 2,726.80, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.3 per cent at 7,396.65, Bloomberg said.

In regional markets, Japan's Topix index was up 0.6 per cent and the Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.7 per cent as at 9.26am in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.4 per cent and South Korea's Kospi index was up 0.5 per cent.