Singapore shares closed 2.65 percent higher on Monday, mirroring regional gains amid optimism the global economic slump is coming to an end, dealers said. The blue chip Straits Times Index put on 67.47 points to end at 2,612.33. Volume traded totalled 2.87 billion shares worth 1.98 billion Singapore dollars (1.37 billion US) and there were 472 rising issues, 96 losers while 795 issues were flat.
"We reckon this rebound still has legs," says CIMB brokerage. The region's key stock indices including the Shanghai Composite Index and Nikkei-225 index closed firmer Monday as investors became increasingly confident of a global economic upturn, dealers said.
"This is a new wave of optimism," IG Markets institutional dealer Chris Weston told Dow Jones Newswires. "There's no way this momentum on Wall Street will just turn around." Among local stocks, Singapore Airlines added six cents to 12.80, Singapore Telecommunications put on five cents to 3.16 and Neptune Orient Lines was four cents up at 1.66.
For the banks, DBS rose 26 cents to 12.92, United Overseas Bank climbed 54 cents higher to 16.80 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp firmed 25 cents to 8.00. Property developer CapitaLand was 11 cents stronger at 3.75 and City Developments gained 36 cents to 10.30.