Singapore shares track Wall Street gains to open higher on Tuesday; STI up 0.15% to 3,362.35

The Singapore Exchange Centre in Shenton Way. PHOTO: ST FILE

SINGAPORE - Singapore shares began trading in slightly positive territory on Tuesday (July 23) in the midst of the corporate earnings season, following advances on Wall Street overnight.

On the Singapore bourse, the Straits Times Index edged up 0.15 per cent or 5.13 points to 3,362.35 as at 9.03am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 74 to 30, after 43.6 million shares worth $53.2 million changed hands.

Among the most heavily traded by volume, NetLink NBN Trust fell 1.16 per cent or one cent to 85.5 cents with 3.2 million shares traded as at 9.02am. AEM Holdings rose 1.77 per cent or two cents to $1.15 with 2.9 million shares changing hands, while Singtel gained 0.28 per cent or one cent to $3.53 on a cum-dividend basis with two million shares traded.

As for banking stocks, DBS slipped 0.11 per cent or three cents to $26.53, OCBC Bank rose 0.09 per cent or one cent to $11.65, while UOB declined 0.41 per cent or 11 cents to $26.69.

Other active index securities included Jardine Strategic Holdings, which gained 0.55 per cent or 20 US cents to U$36.93, and CapitaLand Commercial Trust, which was up 0.47 per cent or one cent to $2.15 on a cum-dividend basis as at 9.02am.

CapitaLand Mall Trust gained 0.39 per cent or one cent to $2.61 as at 9.02am. The trust's manager said on Tuesday morning that it is raising its second-quarter distribution per unit (DPU) by 3.9 per cent to 2.92 cents.

Frasers Commercial Trust was unchanged at $1.64. It will pay out a DPU of 2.4 cents for the third quarter, flat from a year ago, the manager said on Monday. Its net property income dipped by 3 per cent year on year to $19.8 million for the quarter.

Meanwhile, The Trendlines Group surged 30.77 per cent or 2.4 cents to 10.2 cents, with 1.3 million shares traded as at 9.02am. The Catalist-listed startup incubator announced on Monday that it will receive a $10.88 million injection from Librae Holdings.

In the US, the Nasdaq rallied on Monday, with large technology shares gaining ahead of corporate earnings reports and semiconductor stocks surging on expectations that the sector is primed for good results.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1 per cent to 27,171.90, while the broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.3 per cent to 8,204.14.

Elsewhere in Asia, China's much-hyped new trading board for technology stocks started with a bang on Monday, creating three new billionaires on its first day.

Meanwhile, Tokyo's key Nikkei index opened slightly higher on Tuesday in cautious trade.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.