Singapore shares ended 0.49 percent higher on Friday, after a flood of cheap European Central Bank funds this week eased debt worries.

The European Central Bank's half a trillion euros pumped into the financial system this week in cheap, 3-year loans underpinned markets, driving down yields on highly-indebted eurozone government bonds, such as Italy, on Thursday.

CIMB Research said its target for the benchmark Straits Times Index for the first half of this year is 3,340 points, with low valuations helping offset concerns about slow economic growth and high oil prices.

Credit Suisse Research raised its Straits Times Index target to 3,400 points from 3,038, though see some near-term profit taking as cyclicals have outperformed defensives by 18 percents since the lows of Sept. 30 last year.

The Straits Times Index rose 14.65 points to close at 2,993.49. Trading volume was 1.31 billion shares worth 1.07 billion Singapore dollars (0.86 billion U.S. dollars). Advancers outnumbered decliners 270 to 139, while 368 stocks finished unchanged.

Among the top actives, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding rose 2.7 percent to close at 1.355 Singapore dollars. The Singapore-listed Chinese shipbuilder's fourth-quarter net profit rose 24 percent from a year earlier to 1.04 billion Chinese Yuan on the back of deliveries of high-margin vessels.

It is also developing a new offshore yard in Taicang, near Shanghai, and aims to build two jack-up rigs. But Kim Eng Research said "while about 50 percent of its 4.7 billion U.S. dollars order backlog still consists of these highly profitable contracts, we expect margins to taper off progressively over the next few years given the current depressed pricing for new contracts."

Indofood Agri Resources gained 1.3 percent to close at 1.615 Singapore dollars. DMG and Partners Securities raised its share price target to 2.42 Singapore dollars from 1.93 Singapore dollars, while keeping its "Buy" rating. The research house said potential catalysts for Indofood Agri Resources were an earning assertive mergers and acquisitions of new agri businesses that may amount to 400 million U.S. dollars, adding that "potential targets are likely to be brownfield projects, located along the equatorial belt like South America, Africa and Asia and are involved in palm, sugar or rubber."

Yanlord inched up 0.4 percent to close at 1.325 Singapore dollars. Macquarie Equity Research downgraded it to "Underperform" from "Neutral" as it expected slow property sales this year. The research house also cut its target price to 99 Singapore cents, saying that while Yanlord has built a reputable brand name for high-quality projects, its asset churn remains slow due to its high-end positioning and relative inflexibility on price cuts.

Midas Holdings jumped 7.9 percent to close at 41 Singapore cents. The Singapore-listed supplier of aluminum components for trains announced its joint venture company won a 526.9 million Chinese yuan commuter rail contract in China. It said Nanjing SR Puzhen Rail Transport (NPRT), in which it has a 32.5 percent equity stake, will supply 23 train sets to the Suzhou Metro Line 2 Project in China. Delivery is expected from 2013 to 2014.

Among the top gainers, Jardine Matheson inched up 1.9 percent to close at 49.5 U.S. dollars, while Jardine Cycle and Carriage became one of the top losers by diving 6 percent to end at 45.28 Singapore dollars. (1 U.S. dollar = 6.299 Chinese Yuan, 1 U.S. dollar = 0.755 euro, 1 U.S. dollar = 1.25 Singapore dollars)