Singapore shares ended higher Monday in line with regional markets as China’s move to make its exchange rate more flexible boosted investor appetite toward China stocks and a reaffirmed that China’s economic fundamentals remain strong on course.

The benchmark 30-Straits Times Index was up 52.24 points, or 1.8%, at 2,885.64, with gainers dwarfing losers 413 to 109.

In the broader market, 1.53 billion shares changed hands compared with 960.2 million on Friday.

Traders and analysts said that although the reaction to Saturday’s yuan announcement by the equities market Monday could be a knee-jerk, upside potential for the STI remains as investors purchases snap up stocks ahead of the end of the first half.

“News of the (yuan) revaluation will help to inject a decent amount of risk appetite into markets across the board,” Phillip Securities said in a note to clients.

SIAS Research head Roger Tan said he expects more upside in coming sessions “as funds start to window-dress for the mid-year as we approach the end of June.”

The gains on the STI were spread across the board with commodities and China stocks leading the movers. The FTSE China index closed up 3.7%.

“The (yuan) policy move is mildly positive for S-chips (China shares) in general as it translates to higher EPS in SGD (Singapore dollar) terms,” DBS Vickers said in a note.

Among the 30-STI components, commodity stocks led the gains with Noble Group rising 3.8% at $1.91. Wilmar International was up 3.3% at $6.02, while Olam International gained 1.9% at $2.65.

“Commodity plays will be tracking this news (the yuan flexibility) closely, particularly those that will benefit from increased China consumption,” UOB KayHian research head Andrew Chow said in a note.

In line with the broad market gains, shares of rig builders and property stocks also rose. Among rig builders Sembcorp Marine was up 2.8% at $4.05, while Keppel Corp. rose 2.5% at $8.96. Property developers City Development saw shares gain 2.5% at $10.80, while CapitaLand rose 1.9% at $3.77.