SINGAPORE, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Singapore shares closed 0.53 percent higher on Friday, boosted by optimism on strong U.S. economic recovery following a significant drop in jobless claims and strong retail sales.

U.S. markets rose to fresh all-time highs on Thursday with technology shares recording strong gains amid the pullback in benchmark ten-year Treasury bond yields. However, financial shares lagged despite the better-than-expected trading revenues from bellwethers such as Bank of America and Citigroup.

DBS Group Research said, "We capitalized on the March to April 'dividend-driven' rally to lower our equity exposure ahead of the seasonally weak month of May as stocks go ex-dividend. Index component stocks re-weighting is another factor that can weigh on Straits Times Index component stocks next month."

Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index rose 16.99 points to 3,201.76 points. The trading volume was 1.57 billion shares worth 1.27 billion Singapore dollars. Advancers outnumbered decliners 282 to 183.

Singapore Medical Group jumped 6.15 percent to 34.5 Singapore cents. It announced that a potential transaction involving its company's shares will not be explored further. In December last year, it said that it was in preliminary discussions with a third party regarding a transaction involving its shares. It stressed that it remains open to exploring various avenues to improve shareholder value, including corporate actions.

Among top gainers, Jardine Matheson rose 0.98 percent to 65 U.S. dollars, while Venture Corporation became one of the top losers by falling 0.49 percent to 20.39 Singapore dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals 1.33 Singapore dollars) Enditem

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