Singapore share prices closed 0.64 percent higher on Monday, recovering from early losses on worries over the global impact of the troubled US subprime mortgage market, dealers said. The Straits Times Index added 21.43 points to 3,380.61 on volume of 2.03 billion shares valued at 2.09 billion Singapore dollars (1.38 billion US).
Losers outpaced gainers 460 to 341, while 759 counters were unchanged. A dealer with a local brokerage said investors were reluctant to re-enter the market despite the sharp falls because of fears that US subprime woes will worsen. "We don't know how much more bad news there is. We might as well take a selective stance," the dealer said.
DBS Vickers Securities reiterated its "outperform" rating on Singapore banks, saying it believes the selldown in the sector was overdone. Banks ended mixed, with DBS flat at 21.20, United Overseas Bank up 40 cents at 21.20 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp up 15 cents at 8.70.
All three banks have downplayed their exposure to the US subprime credit market. Most property developers were higher after property consultant DTZ said prime office rents in the first half rose 54 percent and will likely rise further in the next six months given the shortage of office space. City Developments was up 10 cents at 14.70, CapitaLand was up 10 cents at 7.30, CapitaCommercial gained eight cents to 2.61 and Keppel Land added 15 cents to 8.10.
Oil and gas-related stocks succumbed to profit-taking after recent gains, with Keppel Corp down 20 cents at 12.50, SembCorp Marine down 10 cents at 5.35 and COSCO Singapore down 12 cents at 4.86. Bourse operator Singapore Exchange bucked the broader market decline, rising 40 cents to 9.60 on the back of continued strong stock market trading volumes.
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