Singapore shares finished mixed on Wednesday as the market locked in profits in banking stocks like DBS Group but positive sentiment remained toward technology counters like Creative Technology.
The key Straits Times index slipped just 0.06 percent, or 1.03 points, to 1,860.53 after hitting a new 34-month high of 1,872.27 points intraday.
But the broader market showed 172 gainers against 171 losers as volume rose to 1.5 billion shares from Tuesday's 1.19 billion shares.
Banks, which have posted solid gains recently, saw last minute selling pressure. DBS Group fell 1.25 percent to S$15.80 after a day-high of S$16.20. OCBC Bank eased 1.57 percent to S$12.50 while United Overseas Bank slipped 0.74 percent to S$13.40.
Dealers said the prospect of increased technology spending by companies and increased consumer spending this year fuelled continued buying in technology stocks.
"People are just feeling optimistic on techs," said Seah Hiang Hong, research head at Kim Eng Ong Securities.
Seah said he expects a pullback once the key index hits the 1,900 level which could be anytime soon.
Computer peripherals maker Creative Technology jumped 4.08 percent to S$20.40, while computer network builder Datacraft Asia surged 6.55 percent to $1.79.
Contract electronics manufacturer Venture Corp climbed 1.43 percent to S$21.30 following news that major customer Hewlett Packard Co plans to invest $1 billion in Singapore over the next five years.
Shares in Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd ended up 0.50 percent at S$1.89 to emerge as the third most active stock with 74 million shares traded.
Singapore Press Holdings Ltd (SPH), Asia-Pacific's third most valuable listed media group, gained 0.51 percent to S$19.60 after it said it would raise cover prices of nine newspapers, the first increase since 1995.
Shares in commodity trader Noble Group Ltd rose 2.30 percent to S$3.56 after ING Financial Markets initiated coverage of the commodity trader with a buy recommendation and a target price of S$5.08. ING said Noble was benefiting from robust demand in China for hard and soft commodities.
Debutant Challenger Technologies Ltd, a company which provides info-communication technologies services, posted a first day return of about 30.4 percent as the stock ended at 30 Singapore cents, above its 23 cents public offering price.
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