Singapore shares closed 0.62 percent higher Wednesday as some bargain hunting emerged after the market's sell-off over the previous two trading days, dealers said.
They noted that volume was thin given concerns about higher domestic interest rates and ahead of the release of Singapore's third quarter gross domestic product data on Thursday.
The Straits Times Index closed up 13.97 points at 2,254.46. Volume totalled 660.88 million shares worth 614.12 million Singapore dollars (261 million US), down from 785.64 million shares on Tuesday.
Gainers beat losers 249 to 213 while 1,080 stocks were unchanged.
"This is just a technical rebound. I'm not sure if this can be sustained since buying is not broad-based due to concerns over rising interbank rates," a dealer from a local brokerage firm said.
Local interbank rates have been on the rise recently with the benchmark rate hovering above the five-year high of three percent from about 2.5 percent two weeks ago, partly due to rising US treasury yields.
Banks were higher led by DBS, which rose 0.20 to 15.90. United Overseas Bank added 0.10 at 14.30 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp gained 0.05 to 6.50.
Among property stocks, CapitaLand was up 0.06 at 3.32, City Developments fell 0.05 to 8.50, and Keppel Land rose 0.02 to 3.74.