Singapore stocks open higher on Monday; STI up 0.4%

SINGAPORE shares opened higher on Monday, building on last week's gains. Investors pushed stocks higher on Friday after the Republic announced non-oil domestic exports rose by 5.9 per cent in September.

The Straits Times Index (STI) gained 9.97 points or 0.4 per cent to 2,542.99 as at 9.04am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 80 to 33, after 73.2 million securities worth S$41.6 million changed hands.

CapitaLand Mall Trust was among the most actively traded counters by volume, gaining S$0.01 or 0.5 per cent to S$1.92 on 3.9 million units traded.

Other actives include Sembcorp Marine, which rose 0.1 Singapore cent or 0.7 per cent to 14.4 cents with 1.9 million shares changing hands, and Sembcorp Industries, which dipped S$0.01 or 0.7 per cent to S$1.43 with 1.4 million shares traded.

All three local banks gained ground in early trade. DBS advanced S$0.14 or 0.7 per cent to S$21.53, UOB rose S$0.05 or 0.3 per cent to S$19.65, while OCBC edged up S$0.03 or 0.3 per cent to S$8.77.

US stocks ended the week mixed on Friday. The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average put on 0.4 per cent to finish a volatile week at 28,606.31, while the broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.1 per cent to 3,483.81. But declines by industry titans such as Amazon, Apple and Netflix reversed early gains in the tech-rich Nasdaq, which slipped 0.4 per cent to close at 11,671.55.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Monday, with bargain-hunting purchases supporting the market. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index advanced 0.8 per cent or 197.03 points to 23,607.66, while the broader Topix index gained 0.8 per cent or 12.06 points to 1,629.75.