Singapore share prices closed 3.64 percent higher on Monday on bargain hunting after the market's recent sharp losses amid fears of a recession in the United States, dealers said. The Straits Times Index jumped 102.88 points to 2,927.79 on volume of 1.22 billion Singapore shares worth 1.49 billion Singapore dollars (1.1 billion US).
Rising issues overwhelmed decliners 518 to 160 with 992 issues unchanged. "Barring unexpected nasty shocks from the US, the local market should renew its recovery past 3,000 to 3,100 (points), which is a modest target," said Najeeb Jarhom, head of research for retail investors at Amfraser Securities.
Investors took their cue from Wall Street's performance before it closing for a public holiday on Friday, as the Dow jumped 260 points on bargain-hunting and a milder-than-expected drop in a regional manufacturing report.
Jarhom said the 3,000-point mark should not be a strong resistance level "if the coming reporting season for first quarter 2008 and fiscal year ending March contains pleasant earnings surprises from blue chip companies."
But caution may continue to cap market gains, given uncertainties on how deep the US recession would be and how significantly it would pull down the global economy, he said. Banking shares led gainers, with DBS Group rising 90 cents to 18.00, United Overseas Bank up 58 cents at 18.72 dollars and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp gaining 11 cents to 7.86 dollars.
Property heavyweights were also higher, with CapitaLand up 42 cents at 6.10 dollars, City Developments up 69 cents at 10.44 dollars and Keppel Land rising 26 cents to 5.34 dollars. Among blue chips, Singapore Airlines rose 54 cents to 15.02 dollars, Singapore Telecommunications up four cents at 3.39 dollars and Singapore Exchange finished 50 cents higher at 6.90 dollars.