SINGAPORE stocks opened slightly stronger on Wednesday (Jul 17), tracking a rally on Wall Street after the Dow and S&P 500 notched fresh records.
The Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.1 per cent or 3.24 points to 3,491.15 as at 9.01 am. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 76 to 33, after 46.9 million securities worth S$89.6 million changed hands.
CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust was the most active counter by volume, rising 1 per cent or S$0.02 to S$2.11, with 4.4 million shares traded.
Other heavily traded securities included Manulife US Real Estate Investment Trust, which advanced 4.1 per cent or US$0.003 to US$0.077, with 4.1 million units traded, and Singtel, which was up 1.6 per cent or S$0.05 to S$3.10, with 3.6 million shares traded.
The telco’s associate Intouch Holdings on Tuesday said it entered into a merger agreement with Thailand’s Gulf Energy Development, which will result in the formation of a new public entity NewCo.
Banking stocks were mixed in early trade. DBS was down 0.7 per cent or S$0.26 to S$37.10, UOB gained 0.3 per cent or S$0.10 to S$33.16, while OCBC lost 0.6 per cent or S$0.09 to S$15.05.
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In the US, the Dow and S&P 500 finished Tuesday at fresh records, amid a slew of positive earnings reports and optimism over US interest rate cuts.
The blue-chip index jumped 1.9 per cent to close at 40,954.48, while the broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.6 per cent to 5,667.2. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.2 per cent to 18,509.34.
European shares, meanwhile, pulled back on Tuesday on a weaker performance from commodity-linked stocks and luxury brands. Markets were also assessing the possibility of Donald Trump winning the US presidential race. The pan-European Stoxx 600 dropped 0.3 per cent at the close.
