Singapore shares open up on Monday; STI up 0.2%

SINGAPORE stocks opened 0.2 per cent higher on Monday, with the Straits Times Index rising 7.75 points to 3,486.95 as at 9.03am.

About 85.9 million shares worth S$144.8 million in total changed hands, which worked out to an average unit price of S$1.69 per share.

The most actively traded counter was DISA, which was flat at one Singapore cent with 10.6 million shares changing hands. Other actives included Thai Bev and Genting Singapore.

Active index stocks included DBS, trading at S$28.49 apiece, up eight Singapore cents or 0.28 per cent, and manufacturer AEM Holdings, down two Singapore cents or 0.31 per cent at S$6.39.

The drop comes on news that the group's largest shareholder, Orion Phoenix, had sold four million shares to long-only institutional and family funds on March 2 at S$6.10 apiece, about S$24.4 million in all.

Gainers outnumbered losers 76 to 64, or about six up for every five down.

Elsewhere, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Monday with steelmakers and other exporters falling amid lingering worries of a trade war.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.43 per cent or 90.51 points to 21,091.13 in early trade while the broader Topix index was down 0.44 per cent or 7.58 points at 1,700.76.