Singapore stocks: STI resumes Tuesday afternoon at 3,159.68, up 0.5% on day

SINGAPORE shares resumed trading in positive territory on Tuesday afternoon, with the Straits Times Index adding 0.5 per cent, or 16.44 points to 3,159.68 as at 1.02pm.

Gainers outnumbered losers 174 to 122, after about 318.8 million shares worth S$371.9 million changed hands.

Among the most heavily traded by volume, Rex International gained 3.7 per cent, or 0.3 Singapore cent to 8.5 cents, with 32.4 million shares traded; while Golden Agri-Resources was flat at 24.5 cents, with 15.1 million shares traded.

Across the board, the banking trio posted gains following the midday break - DBS rose 0.6 per cent, or 14 cents to S$25.05, United Overseas Bank gained 0.2 per cent, or five cents to S$25.61, and OCBC Bank added 0.6 per cent, or six cents to S$10.91.

Other active index stocks included Singapore Press Holdings, which gained 2.4 per cent, or five cents to S$2.13, and Singapore Exchange (SGX) which was up 1.8 per cent, or 15 cents to S$8.44 on a cum-dividend basis.

HongkongLand, however, dipped 1.2 per cent, or seven US cents to US$5.71.

Elsewhere, Asian equities mostly crept up on Tuesday, after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said US-China trade talks will resume next month, though slowing global growth kept risk appetite in check, on the back of disappointing European data.

Japan's Topix added 0.6 per cent, as did the Shanghai Composite Index, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.3 per cent.

Australian stocks were flat, while South Korean shares eked out a 0.1 per cent gain.