Singapore share prices closed 1.74 percent higher on Friday on gains in banks after strong earnings by banking giant DBS Group eased worries over the impact from the credit crunch, dealers said.
They said investors snapped up banking shares after DBS reported solid third quarter earnings that allayed concerns about how local banks may have been hit by the US subprime credit turmoil. The Straits Timex Index rose 64.41 points to 3,771.55 on volume of 2.54 billion shares worth 3.50 billion Singapore dollars (2.4 billion US).
Gainers outpaced decliners 519 to 306, with 839 issues unchanged. DBS said its third quarter net profit still grew 11 percent to 610 million dollars from a year earlier. "The subprime uncertainty has been cleared in the third quarter," said David Lum, an analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research.
Property stocks were actively traded after the government said private residential prices continued to rise in the third quarter, reflecting continued strong demand. DBS shares rose 70 cents to 22.00, United Overseas Bank gained 60 cents to 21.60 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp was up 15 cents to 9.10.
Among property stocks, City Developments added 70 cents to 16.30, Keppel Land climbed five cents to 8.35 and Wing Tai rose 12 cents to 3.62. CapitaLand rose 25 cents to 8.05 dollars.
Keppel Corp was 20 cents higher at 14.50 and contract chipmaker Chartered Semiconductor rose three cents to 1.11 after it said third quarter net profit rose to 114.8 million US dollars from 26.8 million dollars a year ago because of a huge tax benefit.
Shipping company COSCO Corp Singapore extended gains, rising 20 cents to 7.80. Singapore Telecom was steady at 4.00 and Singapore Airlines was unchanged at 19.80.