Singapore shares rebound on Friday; STI up 0.6%

SINGAPORE stocks rode the tailwinds of Wall Street's surprising overnight reversal to end higher on Friday (Feb 25) as sanctions imposed on Russia were not as strong as markets had feared following its attack on Ukraine.

The benchmark Straits Times Index ended up 0.6 per cent or 18.41 points at 3,294.47, after rallying as much as 1.7 per cent at the open. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 327 to 159 after 1.5 billion shares worth S$2.3 billion changed hands.

With the exception of Hong Kong which closed down 0.6 per cent despite a strong start, regional markets were up as well; major indexes in Japan, South Korea and Australia closed between 0.1 per cent and 2 per cent higher.