Singapore shares rose on Thursday with smaller and medium-sized firms in the spotlight, but traders said volumes were sluggish and will likely continue to be thin in the afternoon session with many participants away for the Christmas holiday.
By the midday break, the Straits Times Index (STI) <.FTSTI> was up 0.42%, or 13.31 points, at 3,157.62. The total value of shares traded in the morning session was $379.6 million, much lower than $605.4 million on Wednesday.
“Today’s volume is very weak, which is typical during the Christmas season. Trading is going to be very lethargic,” said Terence Wong, co-head of research at DMG & Partners.
Local traders said the STI could see a small rise after the midday break, though gains are likely to be capped at around 3,165 points.
Shares of Taiwan-based financial services firm Financial One (FNON.SI) rose as much as 30% after its executive chairman offered to buy all the shares he did not already own at $0.485 per share.
At midday, Financial One shares were up 28.6% at $0.54 on a volume of 19.4 million shares.
Shares of offshore drilling firm Jasper Investments (JASP.SI) rose as much as 20% after it said a key stakeholder will convert existing loans to new equity to help it buy a US$180 million ($235 million) rig from Keppel Corp.
At midday, Jasper shares were up 13.3% at $0.085 on a volume of 11.8 million shares. Keppel gained 0.9% at $10.82 with 721,000 shares changing hands.
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