Local shares shrugged off the Italian referendum result defeat and rallied yesterday on firmer Wall Street futures in the final two hours of trading yesterday.
The Straits Times Index ended 0.81 per cent or 23.68 points higher at 2,943.05.
"It was relief after an event risk. The Italy referendum was a major event that was seen causing market volatility.
"So, most traders squared off positions ahead of this, and when the dust settled, the market ran back up," Maybank Kim Eng dealer Lee Yu Sheng said.
Bank stocks rebounded. DBS Group climbed 0.4 per cent or eight cents to $17.97, UOB rose 1.1 per cent or 22 cents to $20.78, and OCBC gained 0.5 per cent or five cents to $9.20.
SGX My Gateway said institutional investors were net buyers of the three banks with $100 billion of inflows last month after being net sellers with $86 million in October.
Speculation of a possible takeover made Global Logistic Properties (GLP) one of the most actively traded counters. The firm jumped 5.6 per cent or 12 cents to $2.28 after announcing on Friday that it is undertaking a strategic review of its options after receiving a request from Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, the firm's largest shareholder.
GLP has appointed JPMorgan as its financial adviser for the review after a Bloomberg report said the firm attracted takeover interest from a consortium backed by China's sovereign investment fund, CIC.
Firmer crude palm oil prices also fuelled buying interest in Wilmar International, which jumped 2.2 per cent or eight cents to $3.66, and Golden Agri-Resources, which went up 3.5 per cent or 1.5 cents to 44 cents.
"Prices are higher after demand for soya-bean oil got a boost from the United States increasing soyabean oil quotas for biodiesel fuel," said KGI Securities Singapore strategist Nicholas Teo.
Ground handler and in-flight caterer Sats rallied 3.4 per cent or 16 cents to $4.89 after its inclusion in the Morgan Stanley Capital International index last week.
Profit-taking sent Keppel Corp 0.2 per cent or one cent lower to $5.92, while Sembcorp Industries dipped 1 per cent or three cents to $2.92. DBS Group Research has a buy call on Sembcorp Industries, citing the better outlook for oil prices given the Opec agreement last week to cut production.
The most actively traded counters included Noble Group, which jumped 3.7 per cent or 0.6 cent to 16.7 cents, with 208.4 million shares traded.
China Medical (International) Group, formerly Albedo, plunged 23.1 per cent or 0.3 cent to one cent on trade of 74.6 million shares, while QT Vascular fell 4.7 per cent or 0.5 cent to 10.1 cents, with 41.3 million shares changing hands.
