Banks lead the index's charge to 21-mth high

A RUSH into the banks on Tuesday helped propel the Straits Times Index 35.67 points or 1.1 per cent up to a 21-month high of 3,211.11. The broad market however, was weak with 208 rises versus 280 falls, although turnover was a robust 2.4 billion units worth S$1.5 billion.

The push on banks came after UOB reported its Q1 results on Friday and DBS on Monday, the former registering a 5.4 per cent year-on-year increase in net earnings to S$807 million and the latter a one per cent rise to a record S$1.2 billion.

In response, UOB jumped S$1 or 4.6 per cent to S$22.80 on volume of 7.9 million whilst DBS gained S$0.51 or 2.6 per cent at S$19.86 with 10.2 million traded. OCBC joined in with a 1.8 per cent gain. As a result, the FTSE ST Financial Index gained 1.5 per cent to close at 888.08.