Singapore shares closed 0.10 percent higher Friday as the market struggled for direction amid a lack of leads, dealers said. The blue chip Straits Times Index added 2.75 points to 2,761.54 on volume of 1.50 billion shares worth 1.16 billion Singapore dollars (837 million US). Dealers said the market remained subdued following overnight weakness on Wall Street.
There were 229 declining stocks to 197 risers, with 828 unchanged. Banking stocks were mixed. DBS was up 26 cents to 14.86 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp added two cents to 8.48, but United Overseas Bank eased two cents to 19.48. Singapore Airlines declined 20 cents to 13.92, Singapore Telecom dropped three cents to 2.92 and property developer CapitaLand dipped one cent to 4.09. Container shipping firm Neptune Orient Lines closed one cent higher at 1.60 dollars.