Singapore shares rise at open tracking Wall Street gains; STI up 1.4%

SINGAPORE stocks opened stronger on Wednesday following overnight gains on Wall Street amid investor optimism over stimulus measures and economic reopening.

Singapore's Straits Times Index (STI) rose 1.4 per cent or 37.69 points to 2,649.32 as at 9.04am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 141 to 45, after 110.9 million securities worth S$118.2 million changed hands.

The most active counter by volume was Rex International which rose 1 per cent or 0.2 Singapore cent to 19.7 cents with 11.6 million shares changing hands.

Other heavily traded securities included ComfortDelGro Corporation which advanced 1.3 per cent or S$0.02 to S$1.51 with 5.2 million shares traded, as well as Thai Beverage Public Co which rose 2.2 per cent or 1.5 Singapore cents to 69.5 cents, with 3.7 million shares traded.

Banking stocks rose in early morning trade. DBS was trading up 2.6 per cent or S$0.53 at S$20.74, UOB was up 2.1 per cent or S$0.43 to S$20.70 on a cum-dividend basis, while OCBC rose 1.9 per cent or S$0.17 to S$9.06.

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Other active index counters included Singtel which was flat at S$2.54 and Singapore Airlines which moved up 2.4 per cent or S$0.10 to S$4.21. The national carrier's rights issue of shares was fully subscribed, though shareholders were less keen to participate in the rights issue of mandatory convertible bonds, according to application results out on Tuesday.

In the US, stocks continued to climb on Tuesday, ending higher as investors focused on the boost from stimulus measures and economic reopening more than the mass protests sweeping through US cities.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.1 per cent higher at 25,742.65. The S&P 500 rose 0.8 per cent to 3,080.82, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.6 per cent to 9,608.37.

European stocks hit their highest level since early March on Tuesday. The pan-European Stoxx 600 advanced 1.6 per cent to its strongest close since March 6, while Germany's main share index jumped 3.8 per cent to its highest in nearly three months.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Wednesday tracking rallies on Wall Street and a cheaper yen against the US dollar. The Nikkei 225 index was up 1.4 per cent to 22,634.11 in early trade, while the Topix index climbed 1.1 per cent to 1,605.42.