Singapore share prices defied a generally weaker regional trend and closed 0.53 percent higher on Friday, driven by gains in China-linked stocks, dealers said.
However, they said trading was listless in the absence of fresh buying incentives, especially following recent strong gains.
The Straits Times Index rose 13.13 points to 2,493.43. Volume was 1.12 billion shares valued at 943.90 million Singapore dollars (583 million US).
Gainers narrowly beat losers 277 to 270 with 631 stocks unchanged.
"Next week's trading will still be quite featureless as the market lacks direction," UOB Kay Hian dealing director Chan Tuck Sing said, adding that investors are rotating randomly around China-linked stocks.
Among the China stocks which gained were Reyoung Pharmaceutical which rose 0.050 to 0.440.
Sky Petroleum was second, adding 0.40 at 0.540, while China Essence, which recently launched its initial public offering, was up 0.020 at 0.585.
Supporting the index's upside was Keppel Corp which jumped 0.20 to 13.80, on expectations it will secure more oil drilling contracts.
Among other winners were Venture, which gained 0.10 at 13.20, and SGX, edging up 0.08 to 3.92.
Of other blue chips, SingTel was up 0.04 at 2.65, Singapore Press Holdings added 0.02 at 4.48 and ST Engineering edged up 0.02 to 3.04, while Singapore Airlines dropped 0.10 to 14.10.
Property developer City Developments was down 0.15 to 9.95, while CapitaLand was up 0.04 at 4.26 and Keppel Land remained unchanged at 4.36.
DBS was flat at 16.20, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp added 0.05 to 6.85, while United Overseas Bank dropped 0.10 to 15.00.