Singapore shares open higher on positive leads from Wall Street, oil

SINGAPORE - The Singapore stock market opened higher on Monday (March 7), following a positive lead from Wall Street and a continued rally in oil prices.

The benchmark Straits Times Index was up 10.26 points, or 0.36 per cent, at 2,847.26 at 9.05 a.m.

US equities rose on Friday, following a better-than-expected jobs report and a gain in oil prices that lifted most petroleum shares.

The US Labor Department reported that the world's top economy added a robust 242,000 jobs in February, although the data also showed a drop in wages.

"US wages not being as good as we thought may be a weight on the market, but the jobs data overall isn't looking bad," Mr Yoshinori Ogawa, market strategist at Okasan Securities, told Bloomberg News.

"There were some concerns over slowing growth in the US but we should be giving it a fairly positive assessment."

Oil extended gains above US$36 a barrel as US drillers cut the number of active rigs to the lowest in more than six years amid a global glut.

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