Singapore stock market to open higher on Wall Street gains

THE local stock market is expected to open higher on the back of Wall Street stock gains.

This, after Wall Street stocks finished with large gains on Wednesday after traders viewed new Federal Reserve meeting minutes as a sign the US central bank will remain dovish on monetary policy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 274.83 points (1.64 per cent) to 16,994.22. The broad-based S&P 500 gained 33.79 points (1.75 per cent) to 1,968.89, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index soared 83.39 points (1.90 per cent) to 4,468.59.

Minutes from the Fed's September meeting showed that policymakers are cautious about rushing into rate hikes, and are worried that the US dollar is rising too fast. This allayed fears that an interest rate hike would come sooner than expected.