Singapore stocks rise for third straight day; STI adds 0.5%

Gainers beat losers 309 to 217 on trade worth $1.4 billion Yangzijiang Shipbuilding tops STI; Sembcorp at bottom Local banks gain: DBS adds 1.3%, OCBC 0.4%, UOB 0.2%

- Ranamita Chakraborty

Local stocks enjoyed a third straight day of gains on Aug 6 despite mixed regional markets and declines on Wall Street over concerns about the US' faltering jobs market.

The buoyant mood here lifted the Straits Times Index (STI) 0.5 per cent, or 19.12 points, to 4,227.70 with gainers besting losers 309 to 217 on solid trade of 1.5 billion securities worth $1.4 billion.

Regional markets were not as sure-footed, with South Korea's Kospi and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong both flat, while Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.6 per cent and Malaysian stocks advanced 0.2 per cent.