Singapore shares closed 0.42 percent higher Thursday amid muted trading interest ahead of the year-end holidays, dealers said. The blue-chip Straits Times Index was 11.84 points higher at 2,808.18. Volume traded totalled 1.39 billion shares worth 1.43 billion Singapore dollars (1.04 billion US). There were 339 rising issues, 131 losers while 780 issues were even. 'The market is very quiet, the banks have been supporting the blue chip index, but action in the second liners is subdued,' said a local trader. For the banks, DBS rose 16 cents to 14.70 dollars, United Overseas Bank also increased by the same amount to 19.88 while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp added seven cents to 8.70. Flag carrier Singapore Airlines gained four cents to 13.74 and Singapore Telecommunications was two cents higher at 3.04. -- Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this story -- 