Singapore stocks rally

Singapore share prices closed 1.32 percent higher on Thursday as investors snapped up blue chips after the Dow Jones Industrial Average struck a record peak, dealers said. The Straits Times Index closed up 44.21 points at 3,406.89 on volume of 2.92 billion shares worth 2.48 billion dollars (1.64 billion US).
There were 473 risers, 325 decliners and 642 unchanged issues. The leading Dow Jones index smashed the 13,000-point barrier for the first time Wednesday as investors cheered upbeat profit reports.
Dealers noted that Singapore investors were also buying on expectations that more local companies will report positive earnings after some blue chip companies delivered strong results. "At the moment investors are buying stocks ahead of first-quarter results which are generally expected to be strong," a dealer with a local brokerage said.
But he noted the market remains vulnerable to pullbacks. "There will still be bouts of consolidation but the general trend is still quite positive," the dealer said. Blue chip gainers boosted the main index, with Singapore Telecommunications adding 0.04 to 3.38, ST Engineering rising 0.02 to a 52-week high of 3.70, Singapore Airlines gaining 0.30 to 18.80, and Singapore Press Holdings climbing 0.06 to 4.50.
Keppel Corp rose to its best level in a year ahead of the release of its quarterly results after the market closed. It advanced 0.80 to 21.70 before first-quarter earnings showed a 48.2 percent gain in net profit compared with the same period last year.
Among bank stocks, United Overseas Bank was up 0.60 at 22.00, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp was down 0.10 at 9.30 and DBS Banking Group added 0.20 at 21.66. Property stocks also edged up, with CapitaLand up 0.15 at 8.60 and City Developments adding 0.30 to 16.50. Keppel Land gained 0.50 at 9.00 after reporting its first-quarter net profit jumped 71.9 percent from a year ago.
Technology counter Venture Corp added 0.40 to a 19-month high of 16.40, after reporting a record net profit of 70.71 million dollars (46.83 million US) for the three months to March. Chartered Semiconductor was down 0.02 at 1.41 and United Test Assembly Centre was down 0.02 at 0.895. Genting International was flat at 1.01 and Thai Beverage slipped 0.005 at 0.260.