Singapore stocks rise at Tuesday's open; STI up 0.3%

SINGAPORE shares opened higher on Tuesday, tracking gains on Wall Street. The Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.3 per cent or 9.32 points to 3,162.46 as at 9.01am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 112 to 32, with 145.5 million securities worth S$57.5 million changing hands.

Hanwell was the most actively traded counter by volume, with 40.7 million shares worth S$17.2 million traded as at 9.01am. Its shares were up 17.1 per cent or 7.5 Singapore cents at 51.5 cents.

In a bourse filing on Monday evening, Hanwell announced that Sin Huat Company Limited had on June 11 become a substantial shareholder with direct interest in Hanwell, holding 68 million voting shares representing approximately 12.3 per cent of voting rights. Bernard Cheng Koh Chuen and Cheng Chih Kwong, who own the share capital of Sin Huat, have a deemed interest.

FJ Benjamin also saw brisk trading, with 28.4 million shares worth S$1.1 million changing hands within the first minute of market open. Its shares gained 21.2 per cent or 0.7 Singapore cent to four cents.

It said on Tuesday that the Airfree brand of air purifiers, which it distributes, has been certified by MRIGlobal, a leading US not-for-profit research organisation, to be effective in destroying the virus that causes Covid-19, following scientific testing. The air sterilisers proved to be able to destroy 80.5 per cent of the SARS-CoV-2 virus released into a controlled chamber, the group said.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

Index stock Wilmar International was also actively traded, with 584,700 shares worth S$2.8 million traded as at 9.01am. The counter was down 0.2 per cent or S$0.01 at S$4.76.

The trio of local banks were higher in early trade. DBS gained 0.8 per cent or S$0.23 to S$29.89, UOB advanced 0.4 per cent or S$0.10 to S$26.08, while OCBC rose 0.2 per cent or S$0.02 to S$12.25 as at 9.01am.

Over on Wall Street, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 were boosted by technology shares to end Monday at new record highs, even as the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined. Resurgent tech shares outperformed industrial names ahead of key economic releases and a Federal Reserve announcement this week.

The Dow slipped 0.3 per cent to 34,393.75, the broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.2 per cent to hit a third straight record at 4,255.15, while the tech-rich Nasdaq put on 0.7 per cent to end the day at 14,174.14.

European stocks also hit a record high on Monday, as strength in the oil market led to a surge in energy stocks, while expectations of accommodative monetary policy grew even as global economic recovery picked up speed. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.2 per cent in a new record-high close of 458.32 points. The index had touched an all-time high of 460.51 earlier in the session.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks tracked Wall Street to open higher onhttps://www.businesstimes.com.sg/stocks/tokyo-stocks-open-higher-on-record-us-closes Tuesday, but there was cautious sentiment ahead of the Fed meeting that will take place later in the week. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.3 per cent or 99.39 points to 29,261.19 in early trade, while the broader Topix index added 0.2 per cent or 3.38 points to 1,963.13.