SINGAPORE - Local shares opened higher at the opening bell on Friday (Jan 12), with the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) up by 14.87 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 3,527.55, as at 9am.
The STI's early advance soothed and erased the 7.77-point slip at Thursday's close.
Across the bourse, gainers outnumbered losers by a solid 111 to 29, as 118 million shares worth S$73.7 million changed hands.
Brent crude hit US$70 a barrel overnight, before prices once more withdrew, but the movement has given a lift to energy stocks worldwide."On the day, Chinese trade and investment data dominates the Asian day," noted AxiTrader's chief market strategist, Greg McKenna, in Australia.
Meanwhile, Singapore's retail sales figures are due on Friday afternoon, while its American counterpart, as well as United States inflation numbers, will come in later in the night.
One gainer was Addvalue Technologies, which saw a movement of 2.6 million shares.
The communications technology provider ticked up by 0.1 Singapore cent, or 2.38 per cent, to 4.3 Singapore cents.
On the index, Singtel was up by S$0.01, or 0.28 per cent, to S$3.62 on a volume of 3.25 million shares.
Singapore Press Holdings, which is slated to release its first-quarter results on Friday, also put on S$0.01, or 0.38 per cent, to S$2.66 on a turnover of 1.44 million shares.
