Singapore stocks end up 0.59%

Singapore shares closed 0.59 percent higher on Monday as investors now shifted their focus to corporate earnings.
While the Wall Street is closed on Friday due to the Independence Day holiday, investors now look to quarterly corporate earnings in the U.S. and elsewhere, with Alcoa kicking off the U.S. earnings seasons on Tuesday.
Investors will also wait for China to release a slew of key economic data this week, including China's trade balance, inflation rate, foreign exchange reserves and credit growth.
The benchmark Straits Times Index rose 19.32 points to close at 3,291.57 points. Trading volume was 1.41 billion shares worth 727 million Singapore dollars. Decliners slightly outnumbered advancers 218 to 207, while 515 stocks closed unchanged.
Voyage Research said "we expect the Straits Times Index to remain range-bound with resistance at 3,300 points level. Key economic indicators for this week include U.S. Federal Reserve minutes and China consumer price index data on Wednesday."
DBS Group Research said "we expect the index to be more sensitive than ever to any further downward revision to earnings of its component stocks in the upcoming second-quarter results season."
Among top actives, Hiap Hoe Limited rose 2.8 percent to 92 Singapore cents. It is selling residential units at its Marina Tower Melbourne, located at the NewQuay precinct of the Docklands region, just outside the Melbourne city center. The development holds a total of 461 freehold units.
Ascott REIT inched up 0.8 percent to 1.245 Singapore dollars. It announced the acquisition of 3 properties (2 in China, 1 in Malaysia) for a total purchase consideration of 131.6 million Singapore dollars. The properties are 249-unit Citadines Zhuankou Wuhan, 251-units Citadines Xi'an, and Somerset Kuala Lumpur.
Among the top gainers, Jardine Matheson rose 2 percent to 60.70 U.S. dollars, while Great Eastern Holdings became one of the top losers by falling 2.4 percent to 22.71 Singapore dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 1.25 Singapore dollars)