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Equities up

in Singapore

SINGAPORE: Singapore shares closed marginally higher and companies rumoured to be facing takeover threats mostly contributed to the volume, brokers said.

Goldtron and Acma, rumoured to be among Singapore companies which Indonesian interests want to buy, were among top volume leaders with 18.57 million shares and 1.49 million shares respectively traded. Goldtron rose by 10 cents to S$1.57.

Acma was up 42 cents to S$5.10.

The Straits Times Industrials Index was up 13.12 points to 2,138.20 while the UOB OTC index of Malaysian companies was down 13.28 points to 1,150.56.

The volume was 376.40 million shares. Advances Fed declines by 204 to 144. Gainers included UOB Foreign and Jurong Engineering. Losers included Creative Technology.

Investors were mostly retailers interested in second liners and small cap issues. Trading volume in blue chips has declined compared to two or three months ago said Crosby Securities analyst Chia Yew Boon.

This is because major investors are looking forward to see signs of a further cut in US interest rates and how the outflow of Japanese funds is going to have an impact on the country's financial system, Chia said.-Reuter