Singapore shares rose nearly 1% by midday to a three-week high, led by rigbuilder Sembcorp Marine after it won a drillship contract worth more than US$800 million ($978 million).
Shares were also buoyed by optimistic comments from a senior U.S. lawmaker on the country reaching a budget deal before the year-end that would ease the fiscal crisis.
The Straits Times Index climbed 0.9% to 3,040.43 points, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1%.
Sembcorp Marine rose 4.1% to $4.56 after it said it had won its seventh drillship contract worth US$806.4 million ($985.8 million) from Sete Brasil Participaces S.A.
“We believe delays faced by Brazilian yard, EAS, could lead to more rig contracts for Sembmarine from now till 2013, as a stop-gap measure by Petrobras,” said CIMB Research in a note.
Commodity companies Golden Agri-Resources and Olam International were the strongest gainers on the index, with the former rising 4.7% to $0.665.
Olam climbed 4% to S$1.56 after it put up a detailed defence against short-seller Muddy Waters’ allegations questioning the company’s accounting practices and acquisitions.
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