Singapore shares closed 0.51 percent higher on Tuesday, as investors shrugged off concerns over cash squeeze in China and lower Shanghai bourse.

The sharp move in Shanghai market throughout the day was sparked by sustained fears over the banking system, as inter-bank lending rates remained elevated, pushing down local banking stocks. Market sentiment has been hit by the People's Bank of China's lack of action to relieve funding pressures.

Phillip Securities Research said "looking ahead, downward bias will likely persist as long as it does not decisively clear above the 3,230 points resistance level. But amid the seemingly doom and gloom, there are still opportunities for bargain hunting."

SIAS Research said "the muted reaction on Wall Street overnight is unlikely to provide any inspiration to the local bourse this morning," adding that the Straits Times Index is expected to trend downward with support at 3,050 points.

Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index rose 15.62 points to 3,089.93 points. Trading volume was 2.14 billion shares worth 1.64 billion Singapore dollars. Decliners outnumbered advancers 251 to 191, while 505 stocks did not move.

CapitaLand inched up 1 percent to 3.01 Singapore dollars. OCBC Investment Research sees heightened downside risk for CapitaLand's Chinese residential rental and sales. The research house said China's latest manufacturing data and a lack of inter-bank liquidity "point to increasing macro uncertainties as authorities attempt to engineer a more sustainable albeit slower tempo of growth."

Singapore Airlines inched down 0.2 percent to 9.90 Singapore dollars. The company said it had completed the sale of its 49 percent stake in Virgin Atlantic to Delta Air Lines. In December, Delta agreed to pay 360 million U.S. dollars for Singapore Airlines' entire shareholding in the UK-based airline group.

Lian Beng Group rose 1 percent to 52.5 Singapore cents. The construction company said its wholly owned subsidiary Lian Beng Construction (1988) Private Limited had won an order worth 115 million Singapore dollars.

Oxley Holdings rose 2.8 percent to 36.5 Singapore cents. The property developer said its wholly owned subsidiary had acquired a leasehold site in Malaysia's Johor Bahru for about 40 million Singapore dollars.

Among top gainers, Jardine Cycle and Carriage rose 1.7 percent to 41.95 Singapore dollars, while Jardine Matheson became one of the top losers by dropping 3.2 percent to 57.10 U.S. dollars. (1 U. S. dollar equals to 1.27 Singapore dollars) Enditem