SINGAPORE stocks started trading on Friday (Nov 22) higher as a better-than-expected quarterly gross domestic product and a higher forecast for this year boosted sentiment. That was even as the government downgraded expectations for exports this year.
As at 9.01 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) was up 0.3 per cent or 11.46 points at 3,750.68. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 72 to 24 after 46.9 million securities worth S$48.9 million changed hands.
The most actively traded counter by volume was Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust as at 9.03 am. It fell 1.6 per cent or S$0.015 to S$0.92, with 7.6 million units transacted.
Shares of Singtel were also briskly traded, rising 0.3 per cent or S$0.01 to S$3.07 after falling to its lowest in nearly three weeks on Thursday.
Banking stocks were mostly trading up at Friday’s open. UOB climbed 0.4 per cent or S$0.15 to S$36.30. OCBC rose 0.3 per cent or S$0.05 to S$16.48. DBS, on the other hand, dipped 0.02 per cent or S$0.01 to S$42.55.
Wall Street ended higher on Thursday, with the blue-chip Dow and the S&P 500 hitting their highest in one week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 1.1 per cent at 43,870.35, aided by a 3.1 per cent jump in cloud company Salesforce after three brokerages raised their target prices on the stock. The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.5 per cent to 5,948.71, while the tech-rich Nasdaq edged up 0.03 per cent to 18,972.42.
European shares also ended higher on Thursday, snapping a four-day losing streak thanks to a rally in tech and energy counters. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.4 per cent higher at 502.54.
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