SINGAPORE stocks opened on a brighter note on Tuesday morning along with rallying Asia stocks, with the Straits Times Index advancing 0.9 per cent, or 29.37 points, to 3,258.19 as at 9.05am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 96 to 23, as some 50.7 million shares worth S$94.4 million changed hands, equating to an average unit price of S$1.86 per share.

The most actively traded counter was Spackman, with 6.65 million shares traded at 5.3 Singapore cents apiece, up 1.92 per cent. Other actives included YZJ Shipbuilding with 6.08 million shares at 90 Singapore cents apiece, up 2.27 per cent or two Singapore cents, and Singtel with 2.28 million units traded, flat at S$3.28.

Among active index stocks, DBS moved up 1.79 per cent, or 46 Singapore cents to S$26.17, while City Developments regained some lost ground from last week's property cooling measures, adding 0.42 per cent or four Singapore cents to S$9.66.

In US indices overnight, US stocks rose on Monday, giving the Dow and S&P 500 their biggest gains in more than a month, as bank shares jumped ahead of earnings reports later this week.

Industrial, energy and consumer discretionary shares also rose sharply, while S&P utilities and telecommunications - among the market's recent outperformers - led percentage declines.

Meanwhile in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Tuesday, backed by gains on Wall Street and the yen's downward trend. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.70 per cent or 154.50 points to 22,206.68 in early trade while the broader Topix index was up 0.69 per cent or 11.74 points at 1,723.53, AFP reported.