Singapore stocks advance; CapitaLand Mall Trust gains 2.5%

Lenders such as DBS Group gained 0.2 percent and United Overseas Bank rose 1 percent.

singapore trader
A trader works at his desk in central Sydney, Australia REUTERS

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

At 0540 GMT, the Straits Times Index rose 0.55 percent or 18 points to 3,311. It ended 0.96 percent higher on Thursday, taking the year-to-date gains to 14 percent.

Lenders such as DBS Group gained 0.2 percent, United Overseas Bank rose 1 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 0.8 percent despite posting a 21 percent fall in second-quarter profit.

Chemical maker Jiutian Chemical jumped 8 percent after saying it expected to report a "significant" rise in first-half revenue and net profit.

Shares of Union Gas Holdings, which debuted on the exchanges on Friday, rose as much as 18 percent upon listing.

Civil engineering company Swee Hong shares surged as much as 42.8 percent after company said it has paid all creditors under the scheme.

But engineering company Triyards Holdings shares fell as much as 7 percent after swinging to quarterly loss.

About 2 billion shares worth S$744 million changed hands, with gainers outnumbering losers 193 to 166.

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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