Singapore shares advance on easing North Korea woes

Singapore stocks gained on Tuesday, as geopolitical tensions over North Korea's nuclear and missile programme receded.

SGX
An office worker walks past a logo of SGX outside its premises in Singapore. Reuters

Singapore stocks gained on Tuesday, as geopolitical tensions over North Korea's nuclear and missile programme receded.

Asian shares hit a 10-year peak with investors breathing a sigh of relief as North Korean fears eased slightly.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.2 percent to its highest level since late 2007. Japan's Nikkei added 1.0 percent.

On Wall Street on Monday, S&P 500 Index surged over 1 percent to a record high close of 2,488.

The United Nations Security Council unanimously stepped up sanctions against North Korea on Monday over the country's sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3, imposing a ban on the country's textile exports and capping imports of crude oil, Reuters reported.

The Straits Times Index gained 0.22 percent or 7 points to 3,235. It ended 0.05 points lower on Monday, taking the year-to-date performance to about 12 percent.

Among the lenders, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp rose 0.8 percent, DBS Group Holdings edged up 0.2 percent while United Overseas Bank lost 0.3 percent.

Sembcorp Marine rose 1 percent after its Brazilian unit, Estaleiro Jurong Aracruz Ltda, has secured hull carry over works worth about US$145 million.

Hyflux, which designs treatment systems for water purification, said SEPCOIII Electric Power Construction Corp has been ordered to pay its unit, Hydrochem, US$16.1 million following an arbitration dispute. Its shares gained percent.

Singapore Telecommunications said it will accelerate fiber-based service adoption for its business and residential customers in a bid to support government's Smart Nation initiative. The stock was down 0.8 percent.

About 1.3 billion shares worth S$993 million changed hands, with gainers outnumbering losers 215 to 190.

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