Singapore shares closed 0.62 percent higher on Thursday with investor sentiment boosted by US aluminium giant Alcoa's return to profit in the third quarter, dealers said. The blue chip Straits Times Index put on 16.32 points to 2,650.95. Volume totalled 2.03 billion shares worth 1.55 billion Singapore dollars (1.11 billion US) and there were 276 rising issues, 194 losers while 774 stocks were flat.
"For now, as long as the key support at 2,560 points holds steady, the index still has a chance to continue on its rally," CIMB said in a report. DBS closed eight cents higher at 12.98 dollars and United Overseas Bank gained two cents to 16.56 while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp fell one cent to 7.61. Singapore Airlines rose four cents to 13.40 and Singapore Telecommunications dropped two cents to 3.04.