Singapore share prices closed 0.56 percent higher on Monday on better-than-expected US housing data released at the end of last week which triggered a rally on Wall Street, dealers said. They said the surprise jump in sales of new US homes for July was a boost to investors' confidence but the region remained vulnerable to any slip-ups in the world's biggest economy.
The main Straits Times Index rose 18.99 points to 3,388.44 on volume of 2.06 billion shares worth 1.92 billion Singapore dollars (1.26 billion US). There were 647 rising issues, 218 losers and 773 issues were even.
"Given Asia's high dependence on exports and external markets, it is likely premature to argue that Asia has decoupled from the US," Citigroup said in a note to clients.
"Asia may be able to survive a gentle softening of US growth, due to Asia's generally significant fiscal and monetary policy flexibility. But if the US economy slides into a recession, it would be impossible for Asia to remain unaffected."
Among blue chips, Singapore Airlines added 10 cents to 18.30 dollars, ST Engineering fell two cents to 3.68 dollars and Singapore Telecommunications dropped six cents to 3.58 dollars.
For the banks, DBS added 10 cents to 20.40 dollars, United Overseas Bank gained 40 cents to 21.00 dollars and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp fell five cents to 8.60 dollars. In the property sector, City Developments gained 10 cents to 15.10 dollars, CapitaLand was up 10 cents at 7.45 dollars and Keppel Land lost five cents to 7.95 dollars.
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