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1st LD Writethru: Singapore stocks end up 0.13 pct

Xinhua, April 24, 2017 Adjust font size:

Singapore shares closed 0.13 percent higher on Monday, as investors' focus turned away from France and returned to more first-quarter corporate earnings to gauge the current business climate.

The French election runoff between centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen on May 7 after both won the first round of the French presidential election but fall short of majority votes raised the odds that France will not ultimately produce a result as dramatic as Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. last November or Britain's decision to leave the European Union.

A snap poll released late Sunday suggested Macron would defeat Le Pen by more than 20 percentage points in the second round.

Singapore benchmark Straits Times Index rose 4.2 points to 3,144.03 points. Trading volume was 3.32 billion shares worth 1.15 billion Singapore dollars. Decliners outnumbered advancers 247 to 220.

Raffles Medical fell 0.7 percent to 1.415 Singapore dollars. It reported flat first-quarter net profit of 15.5 million Singapore dollars, buttressed by better cost control. But its revenue slipped 1.7 percent to 114.9 million Singapore dollars on softer demand from foreign patients.

CapitaLand Retail China Trust fell 1.3 percent to 1.495 Singapore dollars. It reported first-quarter distribution per unit of 2.74 Singapore cents, up 1.1 percent from a year ago. Its revenue jumped 13.4 percent to 290.9 million Chinese yuan, largely attributed to new contribution from CapitaMall Xinnan which was acquired Sept. 13 last year. It enjoyed 3.6 percent positive rental reversions in the quarter, with CapitaMall Minzhongleyuan renewing 2,554 square meters at 35.1 percent higher rentals, while CapitaMall Grand Canyon saw negative reversion of 7 percent for 2,630 square meters of leases renewed.

Among top gainers, Jardine Cycle and Carriage rose 1.6 percent to 47.60 Singapore dollars, while Venture Corporation became one of the top losers by falling 1.3 percent to 11.55 Singapore dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 6.885 Chinese yuan and 1.39 Singapore dollars) Endit