Singapore stocks end up 0.19%

Singapore shares closed 0.19 percent higher on Monday, buoyed by investors' expectation that U. S. Federal Reserve will not rush to hike interest rate following key job data released last week.
Federal Reserve would be patient in tightening policy given the weakness of wages apparent in the jobs numbers. Wages fell by the most since the series began in 2006 even as payrolls increased by a brisk 252,000 in December last year.
The U.S. corporate earnings season will start this week and market expectations are low given sluggish global growth and the strength of the greenback.
Meanwhile, investors are also looking ahead at a few key economic data from China, with trade data out on Tuesday and lending data out in the coming days. Market in average expects China's imports may suffer a 7-percent decline year-on-year for December.
Voyage Research said "we expect the market to correct lower for this week at the support level of 3,300 points. If the Straits Times Index trends below the support of 3,300 points, then we anticipate downward objective in the range of 3,250 points and 3, 280 points."