Singapore shares soared 5.62 percent on Friday following a rally in the United States and on other regional markets, dealers said. The blue chip Straits Times Index closed 83.99 points higher at 1,577.52 on volume of 1.4 billion shares worth 1.06 billion Singapore dollars (687.5 million US). Gainers outnumbered losers 299 to 136, with 790 stocks unchanged.
"It still looks like just a technical rebound, but it could go higher," said AmFraser senior vice president for equity sales Gabriel Gan. The market will be watching closely to see whether the extended rally in US stocks, sparked by upbeat corporate news and better-than-expected retail sales data, will be sustained, he said. Banking stocks led the surge, with DBS rising 49 cents to 7.39 dollars, United Overseas Bank up 65 cents to 8.92 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp advancing 32 cents to 4.43.
Property counters also gained, with CapitaLand up 16 cents to 2.12, Keppel Land adding 13 cents to 1.17 and City Developments climbing 36 cents to 4.84. Among the blue chips, Singapore Telecom closed up four cents at 2.48, Singapore Airlines jumped 36 cents to 10.36 and oil rigs-maker Keppel Corp finished 27 cents higher at 4.39. Computer chip maker Chartered Semiconductor rose 2.5 cents to 13 cents and shipping firm Neptune Orient Lines was up 13 cents to 1.01.