Singapore shares ended the week in positive territory, in contract to a broader regional decline in Asia following reports that the US labor market weakened in October amid losses in the government and retail sectors.
The Straits Times Index (STI), a key benchmark for the Singapore Exchange, ranged between 4,473.62 and 4,520.49 throughout the day. It ended the session at 4,492.24, up 7.25 points or 0.2% compared to Thursday's close.
OCBC Bank, Singtel up around 3%; Genting Sing up 2%; OUEREIT, CapitaLand Invest up over 1%; HPL, YZJ Shipbldg down over 2%; iFast down over 3%.
In company news, shares of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. or OCBC (SGX:O39) were up over 3% at the close as its net attributable profit to equity holders was relatively unchanged at SG$1.98 billion in Q3 from SG$1.97 billion a year earlier.
OxPay Financial (SGX:TVV) plunged nearly 15% even after the company narrowed its attributable loss to owners in Q3 by 2% to SG$687,000 from SG$703,000 a year earlier.
Meanwhile, Beng Kuang Marine (SGX:BEZ) shares were down over 3% after it secured deck equipment and shipbuilding projects worth over SG$15.9 million.