Singapore stocks rise at Tuesday's open; STI up 0.7%

SINGAPORE stocks rose in early trade on Tuesday (Oct 19), tracking the positive performance of US stocks overnight.

The Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.7 per cent or 22.62 points to 3,196.44 as at 9.01 am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 102 to 37 after 139.3 million securities worth S$112.6 million changed hands.

Shen Yao A78 : A78 0%shares were among the most active securities in early trade, with 21.9 million shares changing hands as at 9.01 am. The gold miner and explorer fell 25 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.003.

Among index counters, Singtel Z74 : Z74 0%was the top gainer of the morning, rising 1.2 per cent or S$0.03 to S$2.58 as at 9.01 am.

Shares of Sinjia Land 5HH : 5HH 0%were also among the top five actively traded counters in terms of volume. Its shares were up 8.5 per cent or S$0.004 to S$0.051 as at 9.01 am.

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The trio of local banks were also trading higher at the open. DBS D05 was up 1.4 per cent or S$0.42 to S$30.90, UOB U11 rose 0.7 per cent or S$0.18 to S$26.78, while OCBC O39 ga : O39 0%ined 0.6 per cent or S$0.07 to S$11.98 as at 9.01 am.

In the US, Wall Street stocks shrugged off early weakness and finished mostly higher on Monday (Oct 18) as markets awaited key earnings amid worries over inflation and the impact on corporate profits.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1 per cent to end the session at 35,258.61. The broad-based S&P 500 added 0.3 per cent to close at 4,486.46, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 0.8 per cent to 15,021.81.

European shares fell on Oct 18 after weaker-than-expected growth data from China hit luxury stocks, while a relentless surge in commodity prices fuelled worries about inflation spiralling out of control.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 0.5 per cent after an upbeat start to the quarterly earnings season drove its strongest weekly performance since March on Friday. The index fell after three straight sessions of gains over which it jumped about 2.7 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Tuesday (Oct 19) after Wall Street ended mostly up and with investors awaiting Japan's corporate earnings season.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.5 per cent, or 147.38 points, to 29,172.84, while the broader Topix index added 0.3 per cent or 6.86 points to 2,026.09.