Singapore shares open in a rally on Wednesday; STI up 0.7%

SINGAPORE shares echoed the rally in US markets as it started Wednesday’s (Jul 20) trading session in the green.

The Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.7 per cent or 21.74 points to 3,139.53 as at 9.01 am. Gainers outnumbered losers 93 to 20, after about 36.6 million securities worth S$53.5 million changed hands.

The top traded counter by volume was Jiutian Chemical , which advanced 3.6 per cent or S$0.003 to S$0.086 as 2.9 million securities changed hands. Sembcorp Marine and Suntec Reit followed close behind, with Sembcorp Marine trading up 2 per cent or S$0.002 at S$0.103 with 2.7 million shares traded while Suntec Reit rose 0.6 per cent or S$0.01 to S$1.59 as 2.6 million units changed hands.

Index counter Thai Beverage also saw active trading with close to 1.8 million shares changing hands as its shares gained 0.8 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.645 as at 9 am.

The trio of local lenders saw positive gains at the opening bell. DBS inched up 0.8 per cent or S$0.25 to S$30.20, UOB rose 0.8 per cent or S$0.22 to S$26.68, while OCBC increased 0.5 per cent or S$0.06 to S$11.38.

On Wall Street, equities finished a buoyant session solidly higher on Tuesday as investors look forward to a good earnings season following the upbeat tone that companies have reported so far.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average concluded the day at 31,827.05, up 2.4 per cent or more than 750 points. The broad-based S&P 500 gained 2.8 per cent to 3,936.69, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 3.1 per cent to 11,713.15.

Meanwhile, European shares hit more than a 5-week high on Tuesday after a report that Russian gas flows to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline are seen restarting on time allayed concerns about an energy supply crunch.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed 1.4 per cent up at its highest level since Jun 10, logging its third consecutive day of gains.

SEE ALSO

Stocks to watch: SIA Engineering, Mermaid Maritime  

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Wednesday as investors took heart from the rally on Wall Street.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.27 per cent or 341.12 points at 27,302.80 in early trade, while the broader Topix index advanced 1.29 per cent or 24.55 points to 1,927.34.