SGX gains led by lenders; StarHub results in focus

Index heavyweight DBS, which reports earnings on Friday, rose 0.9 percent.

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Reuters.

Singapore stocks gained on Wednesday, led by lenders such as OCBC and DBS Group Holdings.

The Straits Times Index added 0.23 percent or 8 points to 3,346. It ended 0.26 percent higher on Tuesday, taking the year-to-date gains to 16 percent.

Index heavyweight DBS, which reports earnings on Friday, rose 0.9 percent.

Other lenders such as OCBC advanced 0.3 percent while United Overseas Bank gained 0.2 percent.

Sembcorp Industries dropped 1.3 percent ahead of results on Thursday.

CapitaLand edged up 0.3 percent and Genting Singapore gained 1.3 percent, before their second-quarter earnings, also due on Thursday. StarHub, due to report after market hours later today, was unchanged.

Wifi service provider Nera Telecommunications jumped 4 percent after it won contracts worth S$14.9 million for both the Network Infrastructure and Wireless Infrastructure Network businesses.

Shares in K1 Ventures, a diversified investment holding company, rose 2.7 percent after it reported a 6.7 percent rise in full-year net profit due to a fair value gain.

CWT, which is in take-over talks with China's HNA Holding, added 1.4 percent after posting a huge surge in its second-quarter net profit, powered by growth at its engineering and commodity marketing businesses.

About 1.2 billion shares worth S$607 million changed hands, with gainers outnumbering losers 199 to 170.

Meanwhile, Asian shares climbed along with the U.S. stock futures following steallar earnings from technology giant Apple.

Apple reported better-than-expected iPhone sales, revenue and earnings per share and signaled its upcoming 10th-anniversary phone is on schedule.

Investors will also be keeping a close eye on data the Bank of England on Thursday, where it is likely to leave rates unchanged and U.S. jobs data on Friday.

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