Singapore share prices closed 0.96 percent higher on Monday as investor sentiment was buoyed by the ruling party's near sweep of Saturday's general election, dealers said.
But they said although the market reacted positively to the party's victory with strong initial gains, it gave way to profit-taking later in the day as investors sought fresh leads.
The benchmark Straits Times index (STI) closed 25.36 points up at 2,657.78, just slightly below the all-time closing high of 2,659.65 set last Wednesday.
Volumes totalled 1.18 billion shares worth 1.27 billion Singapore dollars (814 million US). Gainers outpaced losers 387 to 258 with 555 shares unchanged.
The ruling People's Action Party reaffirmed its dominance by retaining 82 out of 84 seats in parliament and garnered 67 percent of the popular vote.
"The PAP was already expected to win, so the market's up a little bit today, but investors will be watching out for more quarterly results out this week," a local brokerage dealer said.
Blue chip companies expected to release their earnings results this week are Singapore Airlines (SIA), CapitaLand and Neptune Orient Lines (NOL).
SIA added 0.30 to 14.70, CapitaLand gained 0.10 to 5.10 and NOL was up 0.06 at 2.34.
Banking and property stocks were the main gainers after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on the eve of Saturday's poll the economy may grow faster than the government's target of four to six percent this year.
He said the economy likely grew above 10 percent in the first quarter, beating the preliminary estimate of 9.1 percent.
DBS gained 0.50 to 19.20, United Overseas Bank added 0.20 to 16.20 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp remained flat at 6.95. City Developments rose 0.20 to 10.60 and Keppel Land added 0.22 to 4.94. Blue chip Singapore Telecommunications fell 0.02 to 2.75 while technology heavyweight Creative Technology added 0.05 to 9.35.