Singapore share prices closed 0.28 percent higher on Friday after the US Federal Reserve held its key interest rate unchanged and offered few hints about a future change, dealers said. They said property counters pushed the index higher but the gains were pared by quick profit-taking on a lack of fresh incentives.
The Straits Times Index closed up 9.97 points at 3,548.2 on volume of 4.03 billion shares worth 3.07 billion dollars (2.01 billion US). Gainers led losers 450 to 356 with 736 issues unchanged. At the end of its two-day meeting Thursday, the Federal Reserve maintained its key rate at 5.25 percent.
A local brokerage dealer, who declined to be named, said investors will want to await clearer leads from forthcoming corporate earnings reports before they take fresh positions in the market.
Property stocks led the advance, aided by positive news flow indicating continued strong housing demand. CapitaLand gained 0.40 to 8.10. Blue chips were mixed. Singapore Telecommunications fell 0.10 to 3.40, with investors turning wary over its acquisition of 30 percent of loss-making Warid Telecom, a cellphone carrier in Pakistan, for 758 million US dollars.
Singapore Press Holdings ended flat at 4.64. Banks were mostly lower on profit-taking, with DBS down 0.20 at 22.80 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp down 0.10 at 9.15 while United Overseas Bank was flat at 22.00.
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