Singapore stocks: STI resumes Tuesday afternoon at 3,139.35, up 0.4% on day

SINGAPORE shares resumed trading in positive territory on Tuesday afternoon, with the Straits Times Index rising 0.4 per cent, or 10.9 points to 3,139.35 as at 1.02pm.

Decliners outnumbered advancers 150 to 136, after about 814.5 million worth S$414.3 million changed hands.

Among the most heavily traded by volume, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) fell 2.5 per cent, or 2.5 Singapore cents to 98.5 cents, with 29.5 million shares traded; while Rex International gained 2.6 per cent, or 0.2 Singapore cent, to eight cents, with 26.2 million shares traded.

Banking stocks were mixed, with DBS Group Holdings losing 0.08 per cent, or two cents, to S$24.73; United Overseas Bank slipping 0.4 per cent, or 10 cents, to S$25.05; and OCBC Bank gaining 0.2 per cent, or two cents, to S$10.73.

Other active stocks included CapitaLand which rose 2 per cent, or seven cents, to S$3.53; and Hongkong Land which added 1.9 per cent, or 11 cents, to US$5.87 on a cum-dividend basis.

Elsewhere, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.4 per cent as at 12.30pm, while Japan's Topix index gained 0.6 per cent. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index advanced 1 per cent, and South Korea's Kospi added 0.9 per cent.

Meanwhile, Shanghai's Compositie index rose 0.1 per cent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was little changed, data from Bloomberg shows.

Phillip Futures investment analyst, Samuel Siew noted: "Global indices generally posted marginal gains this morning, as market sentiments were supported by positive signs of progress on the Sino-US trade war.

"US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross had announced that the US would ease Huawei sanctions for another 90 days, which is seen as an encouraging gesture in the ongoing Sino-US trade war situation."