SGX Singapore Opening Market Update

SINGAPORE shares opened higher on Monday with the Straits Times Index (STI) up 4.59 points or 0.13 per cent to 3,407.45 at 9.01am.

Some 100 million shares exchanged hands.

Gainers beat losers 97 to 74.

The market was buoyed by a weekend rate cut from China and an infrastructure-centred budget from India.

Forex Market Update

The U.S. dollar index posted a monthly gain after spending much of February in consolidation mode as investors await further signals on the timing of the Federal Reserve’s next interest-rate increase move.

The ICE dollar index DXY, +0.00% which tracks the U.S. currency against a basket of six major rivals, traded at 95.256, up from a level of 95.150 in North American trade late Thursday and near a level last seen in 2003. 

The euro EURUSD, -0.02%  traded at $1.1197, little changed from its level in late North American trade on Thursday.

The dollar was at ¥119.63 compared with USDJPY, +0.18%  ¥119.49 late Thursday in New York.

Natural Gas Market Update

Natural-gas prices, meanwhile, dropped by almost 6% after U.S. government data showed that supplies fell less than expected last week despite the bitter cold in the eastern U.S.

April natural gas NGJ15, +0.48%  fell 16.5 cents, or 5.8%, to end at $2.697 per million British thermal units on its first full trading day as a front-month contract.

The EIA reported Thursday that supplies of natural gas declined by 219 billion cubic feet for the week ended Feb. 20. Analysts surveyed by Platts forecast a decline of between 239 billion cubic feet and 243 billion cubic feet.