Singapore shares open higher on Thursday, STI up 12.82 points

SINGAPORE shares opened 0.4 per cent higher on Thursday, with the Straits Times Index up 12.82 points to 3,477.1 as at 9.02am.

About 110 million shares worth S$94 million in total changed hands as gainers outnumbered losers 108 to 32.

The most actively traded stock was Midas, which rose S$0.014 to S$0.173 with 29.8 million shares changing hands.

Other actives included QT Vascular and Rex International.

Active index stocks included DBS, up S$0.13 or 0.5 per cent at S$26.01; and Singtel shares trading up S$0.02 or 0.6 per cent at S$3.61.

Wall Street benchmarks on Wednesday closed at record highs following news that Federal Reserve policymakers continue to favour a gradual approach to raising interest rates.

The S&P 500 Index climbed 0.6 per cent to close at a record 2,713.06, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite Index also closed at records, Reuters said.

In regional markets, Japan's Topix index was up 1.5 per cent as at 9.06am in Tokyo, with the Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbing 1.8 per cent, Bloomberg reported. Meanwhile, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.4 per cent. South Korea's Kospi Index rose 0.3 per cent.