Singapore shares close higher on rise in Dow futures

AFTER falling for five straight sessions, the Straits Times Index on Thursday managed a second consecutive rise, albeit in thin volume due to the closure of the Hong Kong and China markets for National Day.

The STI's 10.96 points gain at 2,801.85 was in response to a large Wednesday bounce on Wall Street and expectations of more gains in the US on Thursday, given that the Dow futures rose by 130 points in Asian trading. Also helping was news that China's official purchasing managers index climbed to 49.8 in September from 49.7 in August.

Leading the way up for the STI were the three banks and Hongkong Land. The 30 index stocks contributed S$578 million or 71 per cent of the whole market's turnover of 1.2 billion units worth S$815 million. Excluding warrants, there were 222 rises versus 152 falls.