Roundup: Singapore stocks end up 0.03 pct

Singapore shares closed 0.03 percent higher on Monday, after China announced the interest rate cut over the weekend.

China on Saturday stepped up its easing effort by cutting its lending and deposit rates again as the world's second largest economy tries to ward off deflation.

But the impact from the weekend easing on the region's overall markets was muted, as concerns about a weak China's economy outweighed weekend interest rate cut. Investors now look for more supportive measures from China.

Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index inched up 1.03 points to 3,421.30 points. Trading volume was 1.36 billion shares worth 1. 29 billion Singapore dollars. Decliners outnumbered advancers 289 to 169, while 475 stocks did not move.

Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Limited closed flat at 1.84 Singapore dollars. It reported its full year revenue was up 8 percent year-on-year to 1.37 billion Chinese yuan, while net profit was up 220 percent to 32 million Chinese yuan.

This was attributed to the implementation of cost savings measures at their Nanjing Nanzhen Store.

This resulted in a substantial improvement in performance from the store. These cost saving measures will be rolled out to their other stores with the aim of improving profitability.

Going forward, Zhongmin Baihui expects to open 3 new stores in 2015 in Quanzhou, Putian and Xiamen. This will bring their total to 15 stores.

Innopac Holdings Limited fell 12.5 percent to 0.7 Singapore cents. It announced its subsidiary, Extera Private Limited, has set up a joint venture to distribute clean fuel in China. The company views this as an opportunity to benefit from China's clean energy and environmental protection policies.

Among top gainers, Jardine Cycle and Carriage rose 1.7 percent to 43.42 Singapore dollars, while DBS became one of the top losers by falling 1.5 percent to 19.28 Singapore dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 6.271 Chinese yuan and 1.36 Singapore dollars) Endi