SGX bucks weak Asia trend; Jiutian Chemical, Union Gas climb

Lenders such as DBS Group gained 0.4 percent and United Overseas Bank rose 1.4 percent.

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SGX Logo. Reuters

Singapore stocks gained on Friday, led by Jiutian Chemical after the chemical maker said it expected a "significant" rise in first-half profit.

The Straits Times Index rose 0.64 percent or 21 points to 3,314. It ended 0.96 percent higher on Thursday, taking the year-to-date gains to 14 percent.

Lenders such as DBS Group gained 0.4 percent, United Overseas Bank rose 1.4 percent while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp edged up 0.3 percent.

REIT CapitaLand Mall Trust Management shares rose as much as 2.5 percent after its net property income rose 1.2 percent.

Shares of Singaporean conglomerate Keppel Corp rose 1 percent despite posting a 21 percent fall in second-quarter profit.

Chemical maker Jiutian Chemical jumped 17 percent after saying it expected to report a "significant" rise in first-half revenue and net profit.

Shares of Union Gas Holdings, which made a market debut on Friday, rose as much as 18 upon listing.

Civil engineering company Swee Hong shares surged as much as 43 percent after company said it had paid all creditors under the scheme.

But engineering company Triyards Holdings shares fell as much as 8 percent after swinging to quarterly loss.

About 3.7 billion shares worth S$1.4 billion changed hands, with gainers outnumbering losers 153 to 188.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks took a pause after gaining for nine days. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, which has gained about 5 percent in the past two weeks, eased 0.2 percent on Friday.

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