Singapore stocks advanced on Friday, tracking positive Asian shares as U.S. stocks marked gains overnight after apparent progress on U.S. tax legislation.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.1 percent. For the week, it was 2.6 percent lower.
Chances of passage of a Senate tax bill rose with the endorsement of Senator John McCain, as that branch of Congress moved toward a decisive vote. The House approved its own tax bill on Nov. 16.
The Straits Times Index rose 0.47 percent or 16 points to 3,449. It ended 0.16 percent lower on Thursday, taking the year-to-date performance to about 19 percent.
DBS Group Holdings rose 0.7 percent, United Overseas Bank gained 1.4 percent but Oversea-Chinese Banking was down 0.2 percent.
Shares in Singapore-based steel maker BRC Asia jumped as much as 41 percent to S$1.27 on Friday following the resumption of trading.
StarHub shares traded up 3.2 percent. Its outgoing Chief Executive Tan Tong Hai reduced his stake in the telecoms service provider in the company to 0.0307 percent on Thursday.
Shares in No Signboard Holdings Ltd, known for its signature white pepper crab dish, gained 1.7 percent after closing slightly higher in Thursday's trading debut.
About 2.1 billion shares worth S$1.2 billion changed hands, with gainers outnumbering losers 231 to 203.
