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Roundup: Singapore stocks end up 0.37 pct

Xinhua, March 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

Singapore shares closed 0.37 percent higher on Thursday, as tension in Yemen boosted oil- related counters and weak U.S. data raised hopes that the United States may delay a rate hike.

Oil-related stocks in Singapore jumped after Saudi Arabia and fellow Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states launched air strikes in Yemen against Houthi fighters.

OCBC Investment Research said "while shipping routes to Asia may not be immediately affected, shipping lanes to Europe could be- - Arab producers have to pass Yemen's coastlines via the Gulf of Aden to get to Europe." The research house added that although Yemen is not a big supplier of oil, there could be global impact as it is located in an important part in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, overnight data showed spending on U.S. durable goods fell for a sixth straight month in February, which was another fresh evidence that growth in the world's largest economy slowed sharply early in the year, in part due to bad weather.

The benchmark Straits Times Index rose 12.57 points to close at 3,431.59 points. Trading volume was 1.5 billion shares worth 1.21 billion Singapore dollars. Advancers outnumbered decliners 249 to 160, while 522 stocks closed unchanged.

Among top actives, Swiber Holdings Limited surged 14.7 percent to 17.2 Singapore cents. It won a new contract worth 333 million U. S. dollars from an Indian oil company for engineering, procurement, installation and construction services in India. This is a second contract from the same company, but Swiber did not name its client. Swiber will start on the new contract immediately and expects to complete it in two phases in 2016 and 2017. The new contract win takes the order book to over 1.8 billion U.S. dollars to-date.

Hyflux Limited dropped 5 percent to 1.9 Singapore cents. It announced that it has secured an independent water project from the Oman Power and Water Procurement Company SAOC. Hyflux will then build a seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant to be located in Qurayyat, Muscat governorate. Under the agreement, Hyflux will supply desalinated water from 2017 to 2037. This will add another 200,000 cubic meters of drinking water per day to Oman 's water supply. The next step is to construct the plant.

Among the top gainers, Jardine Matheson rose 0.6 percent to 63. 07 U.S. dollars, whereas Singapore Airlines became one of the top losers by falling 1.8 percent to 11.78 Singapore dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 1.36 Singapore dollars) Endi