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SINGAPORE, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Singapore shares closed 0.51 percent higher on Friday after jobless claims data boosted U.S. stock prices overnight.
U.S. markets ended higher overnight after the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell back to a 42-year low last week, which suggested the labor market remained strong there.
The U.S. core consumer price index, which excludes food and energy costs, gained 0.2 percent in September after ticking up 0.1 percent in August, reviving some expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will hike interest rate later this year.
Meanwhile, investors are waiting for China's third quarter growth figures, due for release Monday. In the second quarter, the country had surprised investors with stable growth of 7 percent.
The latest trade and inflation figures for September fueled concerns over China's growth outlook for this year, which prompted most analysts to expect China will soon either cut interest rates, for the sixth time since last November, or lower the amount of reserves banks are required to hold after three such reductions in that time.
Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index rose 15.47 points to 3,030.61 points. Trading volume was 1.81 billion shares worth 1.08 billion Singapore dollars. Advancers outnumbered decliners 261 to 170, while 505 stocks did not move.
First REIT fell 1.5 percent to 1.345 Singapore dollars. The healthcare property trust reported a 3 percent on-year rise in distribution per unit to 2.08 Singapore cents for third quarter. For the three months to September, distributable income rose 6.2 percent to 15.6 million Singapore dollars, while net property income grew 6.8 percent to 25 million Singapore dollars.
Among top gainers, Jardine Matheson rose 0.6 percent to 54 U.S. dollars, while Jardine Cycle and Carriage became one of the top losers by falling 0.3 percent to 31.99 Singapore dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 1.38 Singapore dollars) Enditem
