This came amid a recovery on the Hong Kong market, where the Hang Seng clawed its way back from its day's low; positive starts on the European bourses; and more importantly, an upsurge in Wall Street stock futures.

Shanghai, which has lately become a key inspiration for the local market, was up 14.45 points at 2,648.12 despite renewed warnings about a potential property bubble, this time from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

What was remarkable was the local bourse's resilience in the face of an overnight pullback on Wall Street on Wednesday, after a worse-than-expected report on durable goods orders and weaker quarterly results from some companies like Boeing.

Singapore Airlines continued to cruise to higher altitudes, gaining another 22 cents to $15.68. The company has gained 90 cents or 6 per cent this week, after reporting a good set of first-quarter results and projecting strong operating conditions for the rest of the year.

Top index gainer was Jardine Cycle & Carriage, which rose $1.64 to a new high at $36.74. UOB gained 18 cents to $19.88, while Neptune Orient Lines gained six cents at $2.08 on improved prognosis for the industry.

Brokers said there was a significant pick-up in interest on the penny stocks and second-liners front, with China plays slowly but surely regaining some following. 'There is a lot of rotational activity, with increasing interest in S-chips,' said the head of a broking team. 'Many of these stocks, which were dead in the water for months, are springing back to life.'

One of these is sports apparel maker China Hongxing, which put on another half a cent to 16 cents on a volume of some 51 million units - making it the third most actively traded counter on the bourse. China's largest independent rubber supplier GMG was also actively traded, with about 22 million shares changing hands as it gained a cent to 22.5 cents.

New kid on the block Kreuz Holdings, a provider of engineering services to the oil and gas industry, ended at 33 cents. The company launched its IPO of 80 million shares at 27 cents each. Brokers said the fact that an IPO was finally ending its debut session on a positive note, after a string of poor debuts this year, was a positive sign for the market.

The interest in gaming stocks seems to have spread to US dollar-quoted Genting Hongkong. The counter gained two US cents in strong volumes to hit a new recent high at 24.5 US cents. The company's assets include Norwegian Cruise Lines, Star Cruises, and the new Resorts World Manila which opened late last year.

With the index just a whisker away from the key 3,000 level, there is cautious optimism that the Singapore market could continue to claw its way to higher ground in the weeks ahead.

But no one is betting on a smooth ride. Not while US economic growth and job creation remain anaemic. Then there are the overhanging concerns about China's property market. IMF yesterday warned that a property bubble was beginning to inflate in some of China's larger cities, and suggested more needed to be done to rein in asset inflation.

- The Business Times, 30 July 2010