by Tan Shih Ming
SINGAPORE, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Singapore shares closed 0.82 percent higher on Tuesday, as investors bought shares selectively ahead of a news conference by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday.
U.S. stocks fell overnight, led by energy and financial sectors as oil price declined. With Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20 getting closer, investors expect the rally in the equity markets could pause to assess his first moves as president.
DBS Group Research said "we expect the Straits Times Index's year-to-date rise to pause for a breather first around the psychological 3,000 points resistance level with pullback support at around the 2,930 points level. Beyond the short term, our upside objective is 3,150 points by mid-year."
Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index rose 24.48 points to 3,006.02 points. Trading volume was 1.88 billion shares worth 1.26 billion Singapore dollars. Advancers outnumbered decliners 256 to 201, while 632 stocks did not move.
Singapore Exchange rose 0.6 percent to 7.24 Singapore dollars. The bourse operator reported stock market turnover value for December came in at 20.9 billion Singapore dollars, down 29 percent on-month but up 23 percent on-year.
There were 21 trading days in December compared to 22 trading days in November and in December 2015. Its securities daily average value came in at 996 million Singapore dollars, also down 25 percent on-month but up 29 percent on-year.
CITIC Envirotech rose 2.5 percent to 1.41 Singapore dollars. It announced that it has secured its first river restoration project in Jiangsu, China worth 650 million Chinese yuan. CITIC Envirotech will hold a 90 percent stake in a joint venture company with the Yixing Industrial Park for Environmental Science and Technology Management Committee (YIMC) to undertake the project.
With a paid-up capital of 230 million Chinese yuan, the joint venture subsidiary, CITIC Environment Harnessing Valley (Jiangsu), will undertake the project via a Build-Lease-Transfer scheme of arrangement spanning a period of 10 years. This consists of two years of construction and a lease period of eight years.
Among top gainers, DBS Group rose 0.8 percent to 17.99 Singapore dollars, while Jardine Cycle and Carriage became one of the top losers by falling 0.3 percent to 41.56 Singapore dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 6.924 Chinese yuan and 1.43 Singapore dollars)
