Oil and gas, manufacturing stocks notch dramatic rises in Singapore

SPECULATIVE activity continued in the oil and gas exploration and support services space on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) as crude oil prices surged to a more than two-year high.

This is even as the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) experienced a mostly flattish day, closing almost unchanged at 3,374.08 points, down just 1.89 points or 0.06 per cent. Gainers outnumbered losers 231 to 216.

Brent crude stayed above the US$60 a barrel mark for the second day in a row as officials from oil cartel Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and major producer Russia pushed for production cuts to be extended until the end of 2018.