Singapore stocks rise at Wednesday’s open; STI up 0.5%

SINGAPORE shares opened higher on Wednesday (May 18), extending gains on Wall Street.

The Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.5 per cent or 15.87 points to 3,217.76 as at 9.03 am. Gainers outnumbered losers 112 to 29, after 126.3 million securities worth S$71.8 million changed hands.

The most actively traded counter by volume was Sembcorp Marine : S51 0% (Sembmarine), which saw 58.8 million of its shares worth S$5.8 million traded at 9.03 am. Its shares were up S$0.003 or 3.1 per cent at S$0.099.

In an interim business update on Wednesday, the marine and offshore engineering group said it expects its upcoming half-year results to be significantly better than that of H1 FY2021. Sembmarine posted a net order book of S$1.75 billion as at the end of Q1 2022, with 6 of 12 projects under execution completed in the year to date.

Among index stocks, telco Singtel : Z74 0% was actively traded, with 2.5 million shares worth S$6.8 million changing hands. Its shares were up S$0.02 or 0.7 per cent at S$2.75.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding : BS6 0% also saw brisk trading, with 3 million shares worth S$2.5 million changing hands. The counter gained S$0.015 or 1.8 per cent to S$0.84.

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The trio of local banks were up in early trade. DBS : D05 0% was up S$0.17 or 0.6 per cent at S$31.21, UOB : U11 0% rose S$0.19 or 0.7 per cent to S$28.82, while OCBC : O39 0% gained S$0.01 or 0.1 per cent to S$11.75.

In the US, tech shares led Wall Street stocks higher on Tuesday as markets embraced data showing retail sales continued to rise in April even as Walmart tumbled on disappointing results.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index led the major indices, winning 2.8 per cent to finish the session at 4,088.85. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.3 per cent to end at 32,654.59, while the broad-based S&P 500 gained 2 per cent to 4,088.85.

European shares also ended higher on Tuesday, on hopes that demand in China could be sustained as authorities looked to relax Covid-19 restrictions as investors also welcomed upbeat earnings forecasts.

The Stoxx 600 index rose 1.2 per cent, with a 3.2 per cent jump in the mining sector leading gains. Banks and industrial stocks were also among sectors providing the biggest support.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Wednesday, extending Wall Street rallies, where investors were encouraged by brisk retail sales data.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1 per cent, or 258.25 points, at 26,918 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.8 per cent, or 15.74 points, at 1,882.45.