Singapore share prices closed 1.69 percent higher on Friday, lifted by gains in property stocks ahead of the announcement of the winning bid for the city-state's first gaming licence, dealers said.
Sentiment was also lifted by Wall Street's firmer closing, they said. The Straits Times Index rose 40.57 points to 2,445.02. Value traded totalled 1.1 billion shares worth 1.2 billion Singapore dollars (764 million US). There were 466 rising issues, 137 losers and 592 issues were even.
Property stocks were the main gainers, led by CapitaLand which was 10 cents higher at 4.42 dollars while City Developments rose 30 cents to 9.80 and Keppel Land was up 32 cents to 4.62.
Local property stocks are expected to gain from construction activity generated by the city-state's plans to build its first casino resort in downtown Marina Bay.
For the other blue chips, Singapore Airlines rose 10 cents to 12.50, Singapore Telecommunications was five cents up at 2.56 and ST Engineering advanced one cent to 2.85.
In banking sector, DBS rose 60 cents to 18.00, United Overseas Bank was 10 cents higher at 15.20 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp was flat at 6.50.