STI up 0.1% to close at 3,144.31

Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 0.1% to 3,144.31 at the close. Three stocks advanced for every two that fell in benchmark equity index of 30 companies.

Shares on the measure trade at an average 15.3 times estimated earnings, compared with about 17.4 times at the beginning of the year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The following shares were among the most active in the market. Stock symbols are in parentheses after the company name.

CapitaMalls Asia (CMA SP), the owner of shopping malls in Singapore, Japan, China, India and Malaysia, gained 1.6% to $1.89 million. The company said it will buy the Queensbay Mall in Penang, Malaysia, for $275.6 million.

Hengxin Technology (HENG SP), a supplier of coaxial cables used in mobile communications, advanced 4.1% to 38.5 cents. The company said it will raise net proceeds of $16.1 million from the sale of its shares and proposed listing on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.

Noble Group (NOBL SP), a Hong Kong-based commodities supplier, gained 1.9% to $2.11. The Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index, which tracks prices of 19 commodities from copper to corn, gained 0.8% in New York yesterday, extending its three-day advance to 3%.

Sembcorp Marine (SMM SP), the world’s second-biggest oil rig builder, climbed 2.6% to $5.12. The company said it won an order two build two jack-up rigs valued at US$400 million ($524 million) from Noble Corp., the world’s third-largest deep-water oil and gas driller.

Wilmar International (WIL SP), the world’s biggest palm-oil trader, slumped 5.1% to $5.62, the lowest since June 2. The company said it will invest 889.2 million yuan ($175 million) in a joint venture with Kerry Properties (China) and Shangri-La China to develop a hotel in China’s Liaoning province.

“We believe that the market may take this announcement negatively,” Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts Patrick Tiah and Nikhil Bhandari wrote in a note to clients today. “This appears to be a sharp departure from Wilmar’s agri-processing core business and there may be concerns on management losing focus.”