SINGAPORE shares started trading in positive territory on Wednesday (Feb 19).
As at 9 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) opened 0.5 per cent or 17.67 points higher at 3,943.23. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 54 to 36 after 22 million securities worth S$73.9 million changed hands.
As at 9.01 am, among the actively traded counters by volume was Mapletree Logistics Trust, which was trading flat at S$1.22, with 3.6 million units moved.
Shares of Thai Beverage rose 1 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.51. Shares of Singtel were up 1.5 per cent or S$0.05 at S$3.38. Before the market opened, the telco reported that net profit for the third quarter ended Dec 31 climbed 183.4 per cent on the year to S$1.3 billion from S$465 million.
Banking stocks were trading in positive territory. DBS shares rose 0.4 per cent or S$0.20 to S$46. OCBC shares climbed 0.7 per cent or S$0.13 to S$17.89. UOB shares were 1.2 per cent or S$0.47 higher at S$39.12.
UOB, in the morning, posted a net profit of S$1.52 billion for the fourth quarter ended December, up 8.6 per cent from S$1.4 billion in the previous corresponding period.
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Wall Street stocks were mixed, with the broad-based S&P 500 finishing at 6,129.58, up 0.2 per cent, narrowly topping its earlier record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat at 44,556.34, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 0.1 per cent at 20,041.26.
Markets weighed higher Treasury bond yields, reflecting greater doubt that the US Federal Reserve will soon cut interest rates again, a headwind for equities.
In Europe, shares closed at a record high on Tuesday, with banking and defence stocks among top gainers, as investors priced in the likelihood of increased domestic military spending against a backdrop of peace talks to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.3 per cent to 557.17 points.
