Singapore share prices closed at another all-time high on Tuesday boosted by blue chip buying, dealers said. They said locally-listed Chinese stocks were also in favour but succumbed to profit-taking in afternoon trade. The Straits Times Index closed 38.61 points or 1.03 percent higher at 3,793.83, beating the previous record set Monday.
It was the third time the index has closed at a record high since Thursday. Volume was 4.13 billion shares worth 4.36 billion Singapore dollars (2.95 billion US), with 515 rising issues, 411 losers and 701 unchanged. Blue chip banks and property stocks led the gainers.
UOB Kay Hian dealing director Chan Tuck Sing said two segments are supporting the market: the blue chips taking their lead from Wall Street, and Singapore-listed China stocks, known as S-shares. In New York on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 191.92 points to an all-time closing high of 14,087.55, after earlier smashing the psychological 14,000-point barrier for the first time since July.
Locally, banks were higher as investors saw them as having largely escaped unscathed from a credit crunch brought on by a crisis in the US subprime mortgage sector, dealers said. "I think the impact from subprime on local banks is low.
The growth driver for the local banks is still robust loan growth," said Phillip Securities analyst Brandon Ng. DBS Group Holdings was 60 cents higher at 22.50 Singapore dollars, while United Overseas Bank gained 20 cents to 22.60 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp rose 20 cents to 9.15.
In the property sector, CapitaLand advanced 10 cents to 8.30 while Keppel Land added 25 cents to 8.65. Singapore Telecommunications bucked the trend and fell six cents to 3.94 but Singapore Airlines rose 10 cents to 18.80.