Singapore shares closed 0.14 percent higher on Monday on selective interest in blue chips, dealers said. "The market has been more positive in recent days due to interest in selective offshore and marine companies like Keppel Corp, while the casino announcement next month is also boosting market sentiment," a dealer from a local brokerage said. The Straits Times Index rose 3.03 points to 2,177.52. Volume traded totalled 569 million shares worth 625 million Singapore dollars (389 million US), down from 751 million shares valued at 834 million dollars on Friday.
Losers led gainers 303 to 139, with 602 stocks unchanged. Keppel Corp gained 40 cents to 11.30 after analysts upgraded their price targets for the stock on the back of recent major deals announced by the company, dealers said.
Among other blue chips, Singapore Telecommunications was firmer by one cent at 2.57 and ST Engineering was up two cents at 2.57, while Singapore Press Holdings slipped two cents to 4.58 and Singapore Airlines lost 20 cents to 11.80.
Banking stocks were mostly higher, with United Overseas Bank climbing 10 cents higher to 14.10 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp also rising 10 cents to 13.90, while DBS was flat at 15 dollars.
Creative Technology weakened by 90 cents to 17 dollars on concerns over margin pressures for its MP3 products as competition intensified, dealers said.
Other technology stocks were also lower, with STATS ChipPAC losing one cent to 1.14, Venture Corp down 20 cents to 14 dollars, UTAC slipping 1.5 cents to 63 cents and Chartered Semiconductor declining by one cent to 1.10.
Among property stocks, CapitaLand dropped three cents to 2.59 and City Developments fell five cents to 6.80, while Keppel Land remained steady at 2.60.
United Fiber was the most actively traded stock, ending the session 4.5 cents higher at 47.5 cents.