Singapore shares soar

Singapore shares closed 1.30 percent higher on Tuesday with sentiment boosted by Wall Street's overnight gains, dealers said. The blue chip Straits Times Index was 34.06 points firmer at 2,663.31. Volume totalled 2.51 billion shares worth 1.59 billion Singapore dollars (1.13 billion US) while there were 300 rising issues, 208 losers and 822 flat. Singapore Airlines was among the winners, closing 10 cents higher at 13.50 dollars while Singapore Telecommunications put on two cents to 3.21 dollars.
In the short-term, the local market is seen having limited scope for further upside, analysts said. "The overall tone for the market looks muted at current levels as there are still mixed signals about the strength of the recovery or the potential upside for equities," said Carmen Lee, head of research at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. Among property stocks, CapitaLand gained three cents to 3.68, City Developments firmed 24 cents to 10.28 while Keppel Land was 10 cents up at 2.71 dollars.