Singapore stocks: STI resumes Wednesday afternoon at 3,208.07, up 0.4% on day

SINGAPORE shares resumed trading in positive territory on Wednesday, with the Straits Times Index (STI) gaining 0.4 per cent, or 11.03 points to 3,208.07 as at 1.03pm.

Decliners outnumbered advancers 177 to 136, after about 534.7 million shares worth S$552.5 million changed hands.

Among the most heavily traded by volume, Genting Singapore added 1.1 per cent, or one cent to 93.5 Singapore cents, with 21.5 million traded; while Singtel slipped 0.3 per cent, or one cent to S$3.25, with 10.8 million shares traded.

Buttressing the benchmark index was the banking stocks - DBS advanced 1.3 per cent, or 32 cents to S$25.69, United Overseas Bank was up 0.7 per cent, or 18 cents to S$26.58, and OCBC Bank gained 0.9 per cent, or 10 cents to S$10.89.

Other active stocks included AEM Holdings which slumped 2.7 per cent, or four cents to S$1.45. The tech player is expected to report third-quarter earnings on Friday.

Meanwhile, Mapletree Industrial Trust gained 1.6 per cent, or four cents to S$2.56, while ComfortDelGro reversed course from earlier in the day to slip 2.9 per cent, or 70 cents to S$2.31.

Elsewhere, stocks in Asia took on a mixed tone, as investors preferred to stay on the sidelines as they await the Fed's interest rate decision.

Japan's Topix was flat as at 12.30pm, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.3 per cent.

China's Shanghai Composite Index also lost 0.4 per cent, while South Korean stocks fell 0.7 per cent.