STI rises 0.6% to 3,096.12 at closing

Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.6% to 3,096.12 at the close. Four stocks rose for each that fell in the gauge of 30 companies.

Shares on the measure trade at an average 14.3 times estimated earnings, compared with about 15.6 times at the end of 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The following shares were among the most active in the market. 

Global Logistic Properties (GLP SP), the operator of warehouses near seaport hubs, gained 1.5% to $1.99. The company said it signed a long-term lease agreement with DHL Group Services NV in Japan.

 

K-REIT Asia (KREIT SP), the office landlord partly owned by Keppel Corp. (KEP SP), rose 1.1% to $1.345. The company said it agreed to buy a 50% stake in 8 Chifley Square, an office building in Sydney, Australia, from Mirvac Group (MGR AU) for between A$154.4 million ($200 million) and A$169.8 million. Separately, the trust said second-quarter distributable per share increased 18% from a year earlier to 1.93 cents.

 

Noble Group (NOBL SP), a Hong Kong-based supplier of energy, food and mining commodities, advanced 3.5% to $1.795. The company plans to set up an oilseed crushing plant in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province in a venture with Altius Investment Holdings, the companies said in an advertisement in today’s Business Day newspaper in Johannesburg. The facility will cost US$16 million to build, Rob Louw, chief executive of Cape Town-based Altius, said today by phone.

 

Singapore Airlines (SIA SP), the world’s second- biggest carrier by market value, increased 1.3% to $14.60. The company said it appointed Campbell Wilson, who has worked at the airline for more than 15 years, as chief executive officer of its new low-cost carrier that’s set to start operating next year.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings (YZJ SP), China’s third-largest shipyard outside state control, surged 7.3% to $1.325, the biggest advance since November 2009. The company said it’s “confident” of posting at least a 30% increase in net profit in the first half ended June 30. Separately, it said there are no immediate plans to sell convertible bonds.