Singapore shares extended gains for the eighth straight session, led by warehouse operator Global Logistic Properties, after a survey showed growth in China’s manufacturing sector picked up in December.
As of 1:53 p.m., the Straits Times Index was up 0.2% at 3164.83, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat. Gains were capped by concerns that U.S. lawmakers are still too far apart to avert a fiscal crisis as an end-of-year deadline looms.
GLP, which owns warehouses in China and Japan, gained 3% to S$2.79, while property developer City Developments rose 3.5% to S$12.91.
The HSBC flash purchasing managers’ index for December hit a 14-month high of 50.9, the fifth straight monthly gain, showing growth in China’s vast manufacturing sector has picked up and underlined a brighter outlook for the economy in coming
months.
OCBC Investment Research said valuations for the Singapore market are not excessive and it expects a healthy pipeline of initial public offerings, takeover and privatisation exercises in 2013 to help buoy interest in the market.
It remains overweight on oil and gas, banking, healthcare sectors and selective property sectors. The brokerage’s stock picks for next year include Biosensors International Group, CapitaMalls Asia, Starhill Global REIT, Sembcorp Marine and Ezion Holdings.
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