To: StanX Long who wrote (58403 ) 1/4/2002 5:23:41 AM From: StanX Long Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 70976 Yea, Friday January 4, 5:45 PM Singapore stocks close higher on recovery hopes By Muralikumar Anantharaman sg.news.yahoo.com SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore shares closed higher for the third straight day on Friday as hopes of an economic recovery in 2002 boosted technology stocks and blue chips. "The rise is pretty much due to the optimism on tech stocks. It's a liquidity driven rally," said Nicholas Yeo, fund manager at Aberdeen Asset Management Asia, which manages about US$2.5 billion. The benchmark Straits Times Index finished 1.51 percent or 24.96 points higher at 1,678.67 -- its highest mark since early August. It has risen 3.4 percent in 2002. Gainers thrashed losers 288 to 50, with volume still heavy at 877 million shares compared with 846 million on Thursday. Many stock markets have begun the new year in strong fashion on news of an improvement in global semiconductor sales for November as well as a hike in South Korean memory chip prices. For recession-hit Singapore, the Purchasing Managers Index's (PMI) 2.4-point gain to 48.3 percent in December offered more proof of an economy on the mend after recent data showed an improvement in November exports and manufacturing output. A PMI reading below 50 percent indicates the manufacturing economy is generally contracting but analysts noted it was the highest in nine months. "We are pre-empting a strong recovery. The good news is that in Singapore we had a 40 percent decline in earnings last year and so there will be earnings growth this year," said Kevin Scully, managing director at independent research house NetResearch-Asia.