Penny stocks accounted for most of the action in the local market today, although a couple of blue chips, too, got a fair share of attention.
Some of the most actively traded small caps included Ellipsiz, which rose 12.9% to 13.1 cents; SIIC Environment, which put on 2.5% to 16.7 cents; Mirach Energy, which ended flat at 5.9 cents; and Albedo, which surged 25% to one cent.
A total of 1.6 billion shares worth $1.12 billion changed hands, compared with 1.5 billion shares worth $1.21 billion on Thursday.
Gainers outnumbered decliners 257 to 146.
The Straits Times Index rose 0.5% to 3,450.10.
The biggest gainer among blue chips was Golden Agri-Resources, which rose 7.4% to a five-week high of 43.5 cents.
Some 112.3 million Golden Agri shares were traded, making the palm oil producer the most active stock in the market. The renewed interest came after the shares sank to a six-year low of 39.5 cents last week.
Noble Group climbed 1.6% to 94.5 cents on a volume of 36 million shares.
"The law of diminishing returns has clearly set in on Iceberg Research’s third research report against Noble Group," said DBS Vickers, noting that the stock actually gained 4.5% when the final report was released on March 23.
The little-known research outfit has accused Noble of, among other things, understating its debt and overstating the value of its associates on its balance sheet.
In the past, there had been some concern expressed by investors that the passing of Singapore's founding prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, might have an adverse impact on the local stock market.
They needn't have worried - Mr Lee's passing on Monday had little impact on the market, with the Straits Times Index rising 38 points or 1.1 per cent over the five days. On Friday, it rose 18.51 to 3,450.1, driven mainly by the banks and Singtel and volume was 1.6 billion units worth S$1.1 billion.
External considerations included gyrations on Wall Street because of interest rate expectations, Middle East problems including the rise of ISIS and the conflict in Yemen, and flow of money towards Europe because of the QE (quantitative easing).
Throughout the week there was more than a hint of quarter-ending window dressing which helped prop the index up, benefiting as it did the banks, Singtel and battered offshore marine sector plays like Keppel Corp.
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