Singapore index slightly up; SingTel leads

Singapore index slightly up; SingTel leads

SINGAPORE - Shares slightly rose on Tuesday, led by Southeast Asia's largest telecommunication operator Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.

The Straits Times Index was up 0.2 per cent at 3,184.47, while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.4 per cent.

SingTel shares rose as much as 1.4 per cent to S$3.74, the highest since Aug. 20. It was the top traded stock by value in the Singapore market.

Shares of Asiasons Capital Ltd surged as much as 52 per cent to a record high of S$2.01. More than 17 million shares were traded, 2.8 times the average full-day volume over the past 30 days.

The investment firm said early on Tuesday it had agreed to acquire 27.5 per cent of the common voting units of Black Elk Energy Offshore Operations LLC, which has producing assets in the US waters and the Gulf of Mexico.

Separately, the company announced a share placement of 212.6 million shares to four different parties for around S$254 million ($200.1 million).

Shares of Health Management International Ltd jumped as much as 24.6 per cent to S$0.152. Nearly 9.3 million shares were traded, 47 times the average full-day volume over the past 30 days.

Health Management, which operates two hospitals in Malaysia, said after market hours on Monday that Nam See Investment plans to acquire 61 million shares in the company at S$0.16 each.

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