Singapore stocks inch up after losing steam; STI rises 0.3% at open

SINGAPORE shares struggled to advance in the first few minutes of trade on Wednesday, after the previous day's losses and with a negative lead from Wall Street limiting gains.

The city-state's bourse, along with most other regional exchanges, had seen its recent rally pause on Tuesday.

Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.3 per cent or 6.92 points to 2,668.34 as at 9.04am on Wednesday.

Gainers outnumbered losers 86 to 39, after some 102.1 million securities worth nearly S$44 million changed hands.

The trio of Singapore lenders all entered the morning session in the green. DBS was up S$0.12 or 0.6 per cent to trade at S$21.79, United Overseas Bank gained S$0.08 or 0.4 per cent to S$20.95, while OCBC Bank advanced S$0.06 or 0.7 per cent to S$9.30 as at 9.03am.

Other active index stocks include CapitaLand, which lost S$0.02 or 0.7 per cent to S$2.88, and ComfortDelGro, which fell S$0.01 or 0.7 per cent to S$1.47.

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By volume, taking the top spot was Tee International, which moved up 0.3 Singapore cent or 10 per cent to 3.3 cents, on 13 million shares traded. The company on Tuesday evening announced that Tramore Global will make a mandatory conditional cash offer at 3.38 Singapore cents for Tee International shares, after the offeror had purchased a 36.8 per cent stake.

CSE Global, also heavily traded, increased by S$0.03 or 6.5 per cent to S$0.49 after 6.1 million shares changed hands. Temasek's Heliconia Capital Management is now a substantial shareholder in CSE Global, the technology solutions provider disclosed on Tuesday after trading hours.

Accordia Golf Trust (AGT) edged up 0.5 Singapore cent or 0.7 per cent to 69 cents as at 9.04am on Wednesday. Its trustee-manager had urged AGT unitholders to carefully review the circular before deciding how they will vote for the proposed divestment.

Over on Wall Street, stocks tumbled at Tuesday's close. All three major US indices finished solidly lower, with the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shedding 0.9 per cent to end a streak of three straight records.

European shares also fell on Tuesday, as surging US coronavirus cases and forecasts for a deeper-than-feared recession in the eurozone dimmed optimism around a post-pandemic rebound.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Wednesday. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.64 per cent in early trade while the broader Topix index was down 0.43 per cent.