Singapore shares closed 1.67 percent higher on Thursday, buoyed by an overnight rally in US stocks after the Federal Reserve said the recession-hit US economy was stabilising. The blue chip Straits Times Index advanced 42.87 points to 2,614.18 on volume of 2.86 billion shares worth 2.20 billion Singapore dollars (1.53 billion US).
There were 448 rising stocks, 142 declining issues and 693 that were even. The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday said the ailing US economy is stabilising which sparked a global equities rally. And investors were awaiting the release later on Thursday of US retail sales data for further signs on the strength of the recovery in the world's biggest economy, analysts said.
"The retail sales will be a big indicator of whether we are seeing recovery," said Westcomb research head Goh Mou Lih. DBS Group led gains in banking stocks, rising 18 cents to 12.80 dollars. While United Overseas Bank was up 20 cents to 16.60 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp advanced 21 cents to 7.88. Singapore Telecom, which reported a 7.7 percent rise in June quarter earnings, was unchanged at 3.18 but Singapore Airlines tumbled 1.10 dollars to 12.70. Property developer City Developments rose 19 cents to 10.02, CapitaLand climbed two cents to 3.66 and Keppel Land closed five cents higher at 2.70.