Off the wire
• 1st Ld-Writethru: China Focus: China welcomes all countries to join AIIB  • China targets police graft in welfare-linked ID system  • 1st LD: At least 3 Britons die in Germanwings disaster  • Urgent: At least 3 Britons die in Germanwings plane crash  • Germanwings to operate most flights on schedule  • China to bid for 2019 Military World Games  • Urgent: Yemen president remains in Aden denying fleeing  • 30 militants killed in army's air raid in NW Pakistan  • Chinese VP, senior security official meet Thai legislative leader  • Gold price closes higher in Hong Kong  
You are here: 　 Home

Roundup: Singapore stocks end up 0.17 pct

Xinhua, March 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

Singapore shares closed 0.17 percent higher on Wednesday, as bargain-hunting helped to support market after a rise in U.S. consumer inflation dragged Wall Street overnight.

U.S. consumer prices rose 0.2 percent in February from a month earlier, the first increase since October and the biggest since June. Prices excluding volatile food and energy costs also rose 0. 2 percent. The Federal Reserve was keeping an eye on both employment and inflation as it prepared to raise short-term rates, an event widely expected sometime this year.

The benchmark Straits Times Index rose 5.76 points to close at 3,419.02 points. Trading volume was 1.05 billion shares worth 1.02 billion Singapore dollars. Advancers outnumbered decliners 240 to 167, while 522 stocks closed unchanged.

Among top actives, SIIC Environment Holdings Limited jumped 9.3 percent to 16.4 Singapore cents.

It announced that it has signed an agreement to buy Global Environment Investment (HK) Limited and Fudan Water Engineering and Technology Co Limited for 348.3 million Singapore dollars.

Both companies own 10 water treatment projects which are located in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces. They have a planned water treatment capacity of over 1 million tons a day. The funding will be part loan from SIIC Environment's controlling shareholder, Shanghai Industrial Holdings Limited, and part subscription for new SIIC shares priced at 13.2 Singapore cents per share.

mm2 Asia Limited closed flat at 24 Singapore cents. It announced that it has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Grand Olympus Films (International) Limited and JTeam Productions Private Limited, which are respectively a China film company and Singapore movie producer, for the co-production of a movie primarily for distribution in China. Production is expected to start in second quarter of 2016 and the movie to be released in fourth quarter of 2016 or 2017.

Among the top gainers, UOB rose 0.6 percent to 22.93 Singapore dollars, while Great Eastern Holdings shed 0.6 percent to 24.89 Singapore dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 1.37 Singapore dollars) Endi