Roundup: Singapore stocks end up 0.43 pct

Singapore shares closed 0.43 percent higher on Monday after Greece offered a new package of reforms to creditors, showing a ray of hope for a last-minute deal at the emergency Euro-zone summit meeting later in the day.

But many investors were still cautious because it was unclear whether the new proposal could satisfy creditors' demands for additional spending cuts and tax hikes, or whether creditors can stomach the offer.

Athens is running out of cash to repay a 1.6 billion Euro loan to the International Monetary Fund due at the end of the month unless it gets new financing from international creditors. Speculation is rife that if no deal were reached on Monday, Greece may need to impose capital controls on Tuesday to avert a banking crisis as savers keep withdrawing funds from banks.

DBS Group Research said "Barring a loan payment default by Greece that can result in near-term uncertainty, we maintain our view for an inflexion point for Straits Times Index around 3,270 points and 3,300 points, and see the current correction as an opportunity to accumulate stocks in anticipation of a July rebound that can lift the index to 3,432 points."

Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index rose 14.17 points to 3,315.13 points. Trading volume was 1.27 billion shares worth 1 billion Singapore dollars. Decliners outnumbered advancers 226 to 198, while 537 stocks did not move.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding shed 0.4 percent to 1.41 Singapore dollars. The Chinese shipbuilder is taking a 3 percent effective stake in Shenzhen-listed system supplier Highlander for 130 million Chinese yuan. Founded in February 2001, Highlander specializes in the marine intelligence and ocean information technology industry and has been a supplier to Yangzijiang. The deal could strengthen the bond between these two groups and provides alternative source of income from the relevant industry to Yangzijiang.

SingPost Limited rose 0.8 percent to 1.02 Singapore dollars. It has sold stakes in the more traditional forms of the postal service business as it drives more focus into its ecommerce segment. It has sold a 90 percent stake in DataPost Private Limited for about 39.3 million Singapore dollars. This follows another divestment last month of its whole stake in Novation Solutions Limited and DataPost (HK) Private Limited for 24.4 million Singapore dollars.

Among top gainers, Jardine Strategic rose 0.7 percent to 30.20 U.S. dollars, while Jardine Matheson became one of the top losers by falling 0.9 percent to 55.50 U.S. dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 6.209 Chinese yuan and 1.33 Singapore dollars) Endi