SINGAPORE - Singapore stocks opened higher on Wednesday (June 20), with the Straits Times Index advancing 7.81 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 3,309.16 as at 9am.

This came despite US stocks sliding nearly 300 points overnight as an escalation in the US-China trade dispute rattled markets and placed the Dow Jones Industrial Average back in negative territory for the year.

On the Singapore bourse, gainers outnumbered losers 54 to 40, after about 29.3 million shares worth $64.7 million changed hands.

The most actively traded counter by volume was Nico Steel Holdings, which was flat at 0.2 Singapore cent, with 5 million shares traded.

Other active index stocks included Venture Corp which was down 0.9 per cent to $18.32; and OCBC Bank, which rose 0.8 per cent to $11.95.

Elsewhere in Asia, stocks rebounded from recent losses on Wednesday as investors sought bargains - Japan's Nikkei gained 0.2 per cent, South Korea's Kospi rose 0.7 per cent, and Australian stocks were 0.8 per cent higher, Reuters reported.