ST Index ended up 29.86 points, or 0.88 per cent, at 3,413.02, its highest finish since 4 January 2008

SINGAPORE: Singapore's stocks closed higher on Wednesday, as Asian markets rose after Wall Street and European stocks reached new highs, and as China released better-than-expected trade data for April.

The ST Index ended up 29.86 points, or 0.88 per cent, at 3,413.02, its highest finish since 4 January 2008. The index climbed as high as 3,423.57 intraday.

Volume rose to 2.74 billion shares valued at S$1.93 billion from Tuesday's 2.44 billion shares valued at S$1.71 billion.

In New York on Tuesday, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at a record high on renewed optimism about the US economy.

The Dow finished above 15,000 for the first time, jumping 0.58 percent, or  87.31 points, to 15,056.20. The S&P 500 rose 0.52 percent to 1,625.96 - its  fourth consecutive all-time closing high - while Nasdaq increased 0.11 percent.

In China, April imports increased 16.8 percent year-on-year to $168.9 billion while exports rose 14.7 percent to $187.1 billion.

The surplus came after China posted a rare deficit of $880 million in March and was above the median forecast of $15.6 billion in a poll of 12 economists by Dow Jones Newswires.

Wilmar tacked on 2.1 per cent to S$3.38 to become the best-performing STI component for the day
.
Among Wilmar's peers, Olam jumped 4.2 per cent to S$1.725 and Noble rose 2.2 per cent to S$1.165.

United Overseas Bank gained 1.25 percent to S$21.80 while Singapore Airlines was up 0.63 percent at S$11.25.

ST Engineering ended flat at S$4.37 after reporting first-quarter net profit was nearly flat on-year at S$134.0 million.

- AFP/CNA/de