Singapore stocks spring higher as lenders advance

Lenders such as DBS Group added 0.6 percent and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp gained 1.5 percent.

trader
Reuters

Singapore stocks rose on Tuesday, led by gains in lenders such as OCBC Bank and DBS Group Holdings.

The Straits Times Index rose 0.53 percent or 18 points to 3,328. It ended 0.1 percent lower on Monday, taking the year-to-date gains to 15 percent.

Lenders such as DBS Group added 0.6 percent and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp gained 1.5 percent.

Earnings season remains front and center for equities investors.

Phosphate mining company AsiaPhos rose 2 percent as it expects to report a higher revenue and profit after tax in the second-quarter.

Shares of China Star Food rose as much as 18 percent to S$0.123. The Catalist-listed company, which makes snacks in China, was among the top gainers on the Singapore Exchange.

Life insurance company Great Eastern Holdings on Tuesday reported a 173 percent surge in second-quarter net profit. The stock was, however, unchanged at S$24.9.

International Healthway Corp. said it expects to report a net loss for the first two quarters of the current financial year. Its shares rose 5.3 percent to S$0.098.

Among the laggards, Jiutian Chemical and Rowsley fell for a second straight day, down 8 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

About 2.8 billion shares worth S$1.2 billion changed hands, with losers outnumbering gainers 265 to 214.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks remained subdued with the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gaining less than 0.1 percent.

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