Singapore shares rise at Thursday's open; STI up 0.4% to 3,156.19

SINGAPORE shares climbed higher on Thursday morning, tracking a largely positive session on Wall Street overnight. The Straits Times Index gained 0.4 per cent, or 11.91 points to 3,156.19 as at 9.01am.

US stocks rose modestly on Wednesday following a mixed round of earnings, that lifted US industrial bellwethers Boeing and Caterpillar despite earnings misses, but pummelled semiconductor shares. The Dow and the Nasdaq added 0.2 per cent each, while the S&P 500 gained 0.3 per cent.

On the Singapore bourse, gainers outnumbered losers 65 to 31, after about 34.6 million shares worth S$55.5 million changed hands.

Among the most heavily traded by volume, Rex International was up 2.1 per cent, or 0.2 Singapore cent to 9.7 cents, with 12.3 million shares traded, while Singtel rose 1.2 per cent, or four cents to S$3.27 with 3.2 million shares traded.

Financials ticked higher across the board in the early morning trade - DBS gained 0.6 per cent, or 14 cents to S$24.93, OCBC Bank added 0.4 per cent, or four cents to S$10.69, and United Overseas Bank rose 0.6 per cent or 16 cents to S$25.93.

Other active index stocks included Keppel Corp which gained 0.6 per cent, or four cents to S$6.77, while CapitaLand Commercial Trust lost 1 per cent, or two cents to S$2.02.

Elsewhere, Asian equities pulled ahead on Thursday on the back of a Wall Street rally, while Brexit uncertainties kept overall sentiment in check.

Japan's Topix gained 0.6 per cent, South Korea's Kospi added 0.4 per cent, and Australia stocks rose 0.6 per cent.