lauretta scarlatti: STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Index hits 5-year high, tracking Wall St

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Singapore shares rose to their highest in more than five years

on Tuesday, tracking U.S. stock market which closed at a record

high in the previous session.

The Straits Times Index rose 0.6 percent to

3,382.93, the highest since January 2008.

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside

Japan was up 1 percent, after the S&P 500 index

closed at an all-time high on Monday.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, Singapore's

second-largest lender, traded flat at S$10.92, retreating from a

record high of S$11.07 last week. It reported a 16 percent fall

in first-quarter profit earlier in the day.

Other banking shares rose to their highest since 2008.

Shares of United Overseas Bank Ltd matched Monday's

five-year high of S$21.39, and DBS Group Holdings Ltd

rose to the highest since mid-2008.

"Banking shares are doing well, helped by expectation that

the Cyprus crisis may push some money to migrate from Europe to

Singapore," said a trader, who declined to be named.

Shares of Starhub Ltd hit a record high of S$4.76

and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd extended gains

for the second straight session.

Shares of Aussino Group Ltd jumped 7 percent to

S$0.107, recovering from a 40 percent slump in the previous

session after the Singapore Exchange rejected its application

for a S$70 million reverse takeover deal with a company linked

to a Myanmar tycoon who is on the U.S. sanction list.

lauretta scarlatti