Singapore stocks rise at Tuesday's open; STI edge up 0.1%

SINGAPORE shares opened slightly higher on Tuesday amid a mixed showing on Wall Street overnight.

The Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.1 per cent or 2.87 points to 3,178.68 as at 9.01am. Gainers outnumbered losers 89 to 49, with 82.4 million securities worth S$42.4 million changing hands.

Enviro-Hub was the most actively traded counter by volume, with 20.8 million shares worth S$2 million traded as at 9.02am. Its shares were at 10.1 Singapore cents, up 1.5 cents or 17.4 per cent. Its associate company Pastel Gloves has received the 510(k) regulatory clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration to market its nitrile medical-grade examination gloves in the US.

Metal Component also saw brisk trading, with 11 million shares worth S$860,000 changing hands within the first two minutes of market open. Its shares tumbled 13.3 per cent or 1.2 Singapore cents to 7.8 cents. The group announced on Tuesday morning that it would expand into healthcare and e-commerce with a S$4.25 million acquisition of Gainhealth.

Index stock Keppel Corp was also actively traded, with 668,100 shares worth S$3.6 million traded as at 9.02am. The counter was down 0.2 per cent or S$0.01 at S$5.34. The group on Tuesday said it will recognise a loss of S$318 million in its H1 2021 financial results due to its exposure to troubled oil and gas group KrisEnergy.

The trio of local banks were mixed in early trade. DBS dropped 0.3 per cent or S$0.08 to S$30.20, UOB was up 0.2 per cent or S$0.06 to S$26.33, while OCBC gained 0.3 per cent or S$0.04 to S$12.51 as at 9.02am.

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Over on Wall Street, tentative momentum from bets on an economic recovery from the pandemic despite inflation and tightening monetary policy fears petered out on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.4 per cent at 34,630.24, the broad-based S&P 500 fell short of hitting a new record, dipping 0.1 per cent to 4,226.52, but the tech-rich Nasdaq advanced 0.5 per cent to 13,881.72.

European stocks hit record highs on Monday, with automaker gains more than offsetting losses in commodity-linked shares due to downbeat China export data. The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 0.2 per cent, with investors watching a European Central Bank meeting later in the week.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Tuesday, tracking declines on Wall Street. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.2 per cent or 43.59 points at 28,975.65 in early trade, while the broader Topix index fell 0.2 per cent or 3.36 points to 1,957.49.