Singapore stocks edged higher on Friday—STI rose 0.1%

SINGAPORE: Singapore stocks edged higher on Friday (Oct 18) following gains in the European markets overnight.

The Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.1%, or 3.07 points, to 3,628.32 by 9:01 am, as reported by The Business Times.

In the broader market, 53 stocks gained while 51 fell, after 41.6 million securities valued at S$55.3 million were traded.

Palm oil company Golden-Agri Resources led the trading volume. Its shares increased by 1.8%, or S$0.005, to S$0.285, with three million shares exchanged. Genting Singapore, meanwhile, saw its shares drop by 1.2%, or S$0.01, to S$0.84.

Meanwhile, Wee Hur shares jumped 8.5%, or S$0.035, to S$0.445. The rise followed the construction engineering company’s clarification on Thursday night that a S$1.6 billion student accommodation deal has not yet been finalised.

Bank stocks were also up at the start of the day. DBS increased by 0.3%, or S$0.13, to S$39.65. UOB gained 0.7%, or S$0.23, to S$32.74, while OCBC climbed 0.5%, or S$0.07, to S$15.33.

Wall Street had mixed results on Thursday as interest in chipmakers and designers like Nvidia rebounded.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% to reach a new high of 43,239.05 points. However, the S&P 500 fell by 0.02% to 5,841.47 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index edged up by 0.04%, closing at 18,373.61. This followed a 0.9% rise in Nvidia’s share price, while chipmaker TSMC saw its shares surge 9.8% after posting strong third-quarter results.

In Europe, stocks gained after the European Central Bank delivered an expected 25 basis point rate cut. The Stoxx 600 index rose by 0.8%, closing at 523.91 points. /TISG

Read also: Singapore stocks rose on Thursday as exports increased 2.7% YoY in Sept; STI gained 0.7%

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