SINGAPORE - Singapore shares closed 2.43 per cent higher Friday, but caution remained as weak company earnings and job cuts by banking giant DBS Group underlined the impact of a slowing economy, analysts said.

The main Straits Times Index rose 44.29 points to 1,863.49 on a volume of 1.51 billion shares worth S$1.38 billion. There were 287 gainers, 181 losers and 844 stocks were unchanged.

"I think it's a mixture of US futures and the Hong Kong rate cut that is driving the rebound and a feeling that although the US jobs report may be bad, the market can't keep pricing the same bad news in over and over again," a trader told Dow Jones Newswires.

Analysts said cautiousness remained in the market on worries economic conditions will worsen next year.

Southeast Asia's biggest bank by assets, DBS Group, said Friday it was cutting 900 jobs, or six per cent of its workforce, this month as part of efforts to cut costs amid financial turmoil. It also reported a 38 per cent decline in third-quarter net profit.

Most of the job cuts will be in Singapore and Hong Kong and underscores the impact of the global economic slowdown on the city-state's open economy, which is in recession.

"This is just the first stage. It reflects how quickly the economic conditions have deteriorated in the second half of the year compared with the first half," said economist Song Seng Wun of CIMB-GK Research.

Banking stocks were mixed, with DBS Group rising 30 cents to S$11.40, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp up 12 cents to S$5.24 and United Overseas Bank down 24 cents to S$13.14.

In the property sector, CapitaLand climbed five cents to S$3.17, Keppel Land added one cent to S$2.07 and City Developments jumped 35 cents to S$6.45.

Blue chip Singapore Telecom advanced 17 cents to S$2.52, Singapore Airlines was up 60 cents to S$12.00 and Singapore Press Holdings advanced 14 cents to S$3.47.

Oil rig-maker Keppel Corp gained 34 cents to S$5.19 and shipping firm Neptune Orient Lines was steady at S$1.25.

- AFP/ir