Off the wire
• Spotlight: Chinese FM calls for closer cooperation among ASEAN, China, Japan, S. Korea  • Spanish stock market falls 0.23 pct, closes at 11,253 points  • French stock market index down 0.09 pct on Thursday  • Unicef condemns violence against children in Bangladesh  • Spanish treasury places 4.903 bln euros on market  • Feature: Chinese acupuncture helps treat more Togolese patients  • Europe adopts rules mandating central clearing for OTC derivatives  • Final results of women's 50m backstroke at Kazan worlds  • Final results of men's 100m freestyle at Kazan worlds  • Feature: Hiroshima residents mark 70th anni. of atomic bombing, calling for "true peace"  
You are here: 　 Home

Roundup: Singapore stocks end up 0.17 pct

Xinhua, August 7, 2015 Adjust font size:

Singapore shares closed 0.17 percent higher on Thursday, as the people in Singapore is about to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of independence in the next few days.

Singapore bourse will be closed Friday and resumed trading next Tuesday. Investors shrugged off the latest U.S. economic data that backed views the Federal Reserve will raise rates in September. The U.S. Institute for Supply Management's services sector index rose to 60.3, its highest level since August 2005, far beyond market expectations for a 56.2 reading.

Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index rose 5.27 points to 3, 196.66 points. Trading volume was 1.47 billion shares worth 1 billion Singapore dollars. Decliners outnumbered advancers 261 to 193, while 486 stocks did not move.

Fraser and Neave Limited rose 1.8 percent to 2.30 Singapore dollars. It has agreed to sell its 55 percent stake in Myanmar Brewery to Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) for 560 million U.S. dollars, bringing an end to a lengthy dispute.

MEHL won an arbitration case against Fraser and Neave last year entitling it to buy the latter's stake in Myanmar's biggest brewery. But the pair disagreed on the currency exchange rate at which the transaction should be made. The sale and purchase will be completed by August 20 upon the payment.

Manufacturing Integration Technology Limited jumped 7.7 percent to 28 Singapore cents. It reported its first-half revenue was up 139 percent year-on-year to 53.3 million Singapore dollars while net profit soared 1513 percent to 12.9 million Singapore dollars.

The results were attributed to new orders for its solar equipment as well as continued growth from a wider base for its semiconductor equipment. The revenue and profit recorded were also its highest achieve in any 6 months period. The company sees opportunities for growth in China and South Korea. It is also pursuing an opportunity in clean-tech equipment manufacturing. Its orderbook as at August 5 stands at 50.9 million Singapore dollars.

Among top gainers, Jardine Matheson rose 1.5 percent to 52.78 U. S. dollars, while Jardine Cycle and Carriage became one of the top losers by falling 0.5 percent to 29.85 Singapore dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 1.39 Singapore dollars) Endi