SINGAPORE - Singapore shares began trading on Wednesday morning (Aug 7) in positive territory, recovering from the previous day's losses after US stocks bounced back overnight as the yuan steadied.
The Straits Times Index rose 0.11 per cent or 3.59 points to 3,174.06 points as at 9.02am.
Gainers outpaced losers 75 to 39, after 34.7 million securities worth $81.1 million changed hands.
Among the most heavily traded by volume was Genting Singapore, which gained 0.58 per cent or 0.5 cent to $0.875 with 4.3 million shares changing hands as at 9.02am. Golden Agri-Resources also rose, by 1.7 per cent or 0.5 cent to $0.30 with 1.8 million shares traded.
CapitaLand fell 1.15 per cent or four cents to $3.44 with 1.9 million shares traded as at 9.02am. The real estate heavyweight on Wednesday posted a 4.2 per cent drop in net profit to $579.8 million for its second quarter, due to one-off transactions costs incurred on the acquisition of Ascendas-Singbridge.
As for banking stocks, DBS was up 0.36 per cent or nine cents to $24.97, while UOB increased 0.31 per cent or eight cents to $25.74 as at 9.02am.
Other active index securities included the Singapore Exchange (SGX) which gained 1.27 per cent or 10 cents to $8.00, and ComfortDelGro which climbed 3 per cent or eight cents to $2.75.
Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) was trading flat at $2.09 as at 9.03am. SPH said on Tuesday night that it had completed its acquisition of a 20 per cent stake in KBS US Prime Property Management, which manages newly listed Prime US Reit.
Jumbo Group lost 1.32 per cent or 0.5 Singapore cent to 37.5 cents as at 9.03am. The seafood restaurant operator on Tuesday night posted a 24.8 per cent drop in third-quarter net profit to $1.7 million, as revenue inched up and expenses rose.
In the US, stocks bounced back on Tuesday, ending a multi-session losing streak as China stepped in to stem the yuan's slide, tempering fears of a currency war.
Earlier, Wall Street's main indices had on Monday racked up their steepest one-day percentage fall of the year. At Tuesday's close, Singapore stocks also took a beating as escalating Sino-US trade tensions rattled investors.
The Chinese currency had slid below a key benchmark on Monday in a move seen as part of Beijing's rebuttal to US President Donald Trump's latest tariff threat. But the People's Bank of China governor Yi Gang vowed on Tuesday that China would not engage in a competitive devaluation in the trade war.
In Tokyo, stocks opened lower again on Wednesday, despite Wall Street's recovery, with investors still on edge over US-China trade ties.
