IN THE roller-coaster ride that the local bourse has taken of late, sentiment was riding high again yesterday as broad-based buying in blue chips and China plays drove the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) higher by 30 points or 1.29 per cent, to 2,359.6.

About 992.8 million shares worth $914.1 million exchanged hands, as investors were upbeat. They took their cues from a strong performance on Wall Street, which saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average rise nearly 1 per cent to 11,079.46 points on Wednesday.

"People are feeling less queasy now about entering the market to pick up bargains," said a trader.

Gainers easily outnumbered losers 463 to 129 yesterday.

Particularly eye-catching was the technology sector, with chip stocks like Chartered Semiconductor up three cents to $1.39, and Stats ChipPac, the world's fourth-largest chip-packaging firm, advancing a cent to 99.5 cents.

United Test and Assembly Center (Utac) also rose two cents, or 2.6 per cent, to 79 cents, while Global Testing also inched up two cents to 29 cents. It was the fourth most actively traded counter yesterday.

The most active was MediaRing, with 31 million shares transacted. The counter rose three cents, or 9 per cent, to 36.5 cents, on expectations that it was about to unveil an improved offer for Pacific Internet.

Indeed, MediaRing later said it would be raising its takeover price for the Nasdaq-listed company to US$9.50 from US$8.25 a share.

Another stock that garnered the attention of the market yesterday was conglomerate Pacific Century Regional Development (PCRD), whose share price soared more than 12 per cent to 36.5 cents in slightly over an hour of trading.

This was on speculation that a bidding war is looming for the assets of Hong Kong associate PCCW.

Bright World Precision Machinery was among the most active China stocks, after OCBC Investment Research initiated a "buy" call on the metal stamping machines firm.

"Bright World looks well-placed to ride on the still strong economic expansion in China," OCBC said. The counter rose 1.5 cents, or 3.2 per cent, to 48 cents.

Biosensors continued its gains, with retail investors snapping up the stock after the stent-maker was named one of the top 50 firms to watch by United States trade magazine, Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry. It has risen by about 14 per cent this week to 84 cents.

In a report, Fraser Securities' head of research, Mr Najeeb Jarhom, said that with the World Cup fever heating up in the next fortnight climaxing with the July 9 final, daily volumes may not return to the 1.2 billion to 1.5 billion range. "It may thus not be easy for the STI to reach this month's high of 2430.92 on June 2 by June 30," the report said.