STI up 0.7% to 3,206.15 at midday

Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 0.7% to 3,206.15 as of the 12:30 p.m. midday trading break. Twenty-seven stocks advanced while none fell in the benchmark equity index of 30 companies.

Shares on the measure trade at an average 15.7 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.

Commodity suppliers: The Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index, which tracks prices of 19 commodities from copper to corn, climbed 0.7% in New York yesterday. Noble Group (NOBL SP), a Hong Kong-based commodities supplier, rose 0.9% to $2.16. Olam International (OLAM SP), a Singapore-based supplier of agricultural commodities, gained 0.6% to $3.17.

Palm-oil producers: Crude palm-oil futures for March delivery gained 0.6% in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Wilmar International (WIL SP), the world’s biggest palm-oil trader, climbed 0.5% to $5.66. Indofood Agri Resources (IFAR SP), the palm-oil unit of Indonesia’s biggest noodle maker, gained 0.7% to $2.85.

Capitaland (CAPL SP), the developer, gained 1.9% to $3.76. The company reported strong sales at its high-end residential project in Beijing over the Christmas weekend. About 60% of the units have been sold, the company said in a statement.

First Real Estate Investment Trust (FIRT SP), a health-care property trust, rose 0.7% to 71 cents. The company said its rights offer was oversubscribed, with demand for 23% more units than were available. In a separate announcement, the company said its existing portfolio has been revalued at $355.5 million, an increase of $14.6 million from the end of 2009.

Guocoland (GUOL SP), the developer controlled by Malaysian tycoon Quek Leng Chan, rose 1.2% to $2.58. The company said it will review setting up a real estate investment trust as a possible way to extract value from its property portfolio. The company was responding to a report in The Business Times that said it is considering listing an office real-estate investment trust and another trust holding retail assets, without citing anyone.