SINGAPORE equities began Thursday (Sep 5) firmly in positive territory after global equities largely fell overnight.
As at 9.01 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) surged 16.19 points or 0.5 per cent to 3,457.57. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 72 to 20 after 46.7 million securities worth S$56.5 million changed hands.
China Kunda Technology was the most actively traded counter in terms of volume. The precision mould and plastic injection parts manufacturer climbed S$0.009 or 75 per cent to S$0.021 after 7.7 million shares were moved.
Other actively traded names included CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, though the real estate investment trust remained flat at S$2.06. Meanwhile, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust inched up S$0.01 or 0.8 per cent to S$1.35.
Local banking stocks were mixed at the open, with UOB shedding S$0.03 or 0.1 per cent to S$31.60. DBS rose S$0.13 or 0.4 per cent to S$36.73, and OCBC was up S$0.12 or 0.8 per cent at S$14.66.
Wall Street stocks ended Wednesday mixed as markets looked ahead to key US employment data amid economic growth concerns.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.1 per cent at 40,974.97. The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 0.2 per cent to 5,520.07, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.3 per cent to 17,084.30.
Over in Europe, shares broadly fell as technology counters led declines amid concerns of an imminent slowdown in the US, and weakness in the Chinese economy rattled global markets.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 1 per cent to 514.82.