Singapore: Shares touch fresh high

Singapore shares rose 0.54 per cent on Wednesday despite a slowdown in China's economic growth and disappointing retail sales figures in the United States.

The Straits Times Index rose 18.87 points to a fresh high of 3,539.95, mainly lifted by the Jardine stocks and banks.

Most of the action was in penny stocks. The most active counter was Sino Construction, which tumbled 17.8 per cent to 7.4 Singapore cents on 170.5 million shares traded.

About 3.5 billion shares worth S$1.6 billion changed hands in total, with gainers outnumbering losers at 277 to 224.