Singapore shares climb at Wednesday’s open amid factory output growth

$FTSE Singapore Straits Time Index (.STI.SG)$ gained 15.37 points or 0.5 per cent to 3,248.70. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 73 to 37 after 34.8 million securities worth S$50.4 million changed hands.

$Seatrium (S51.SG)$ was the most heavily traded counter by volume. It rose 1.2 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.082 after five million securities were transacted.

Other companies that were briskly transacted included $G Invacom - watch list (QS9.SG)$ which was up S$0.002 or 3.7 per cent at S$0.056, and $ThaiBev (Y92.SG)$ which remained unchanged at S$0.485.

Over on Wall Street, US stocks slid on Tuesday following the release of vapid consumer data by The Conference Board which revealed a slight dip in US consumer confidence in March. $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ shed 0.1 per cent to 39,282.33, and the broad-based $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ declined 0.3 per cent to 5,203.58. The tech-heavy $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ sank 0.4 per cent to 16,315.70.