STI +1.1% at 3177.83, in broad market advance with 2.5 gainers for every decliner, decent 486 million shares worth $596 million traded so far. Gains come despite expectations for cautious, rangebound trade ahead of FOMC meeting, U.S. mid-terms; along with Friday’s 0.4% rise, index now recoups all of Wednesday’s steep 1.2% correction; “the local market is tracking the regional markets higher, especially Shanghai (+1.0%), and retracing the correction last week, but (for further upside) much depends on the FOMC,” says trading representative at local house. 

Thomson Medical Centre (5FV.SG) top traded, rises 61% to $1.74, just below $1.75 level of Peter Lim’s mandatory offer for rest of shares he doesn’t already own. 

 

STI component SMRT Corp. (S53.SG) down 1.0% at $2.03 after 2Q results late Friday point to challenging times ahead with continued Circle Line losses; but buoying index, Golden Agri-Resources (E5H.SG) +4.6% at $0.680, Genting Singapore (G13.SG) +1.8% at $2.21. Index now back within sight of 3200, where many analysts expect strong resistance. 

Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.6% to 3,160.70 as of 9:22 a.m. local time. Twenty-six advanced on the 30-member gauge, while two dropped.

Shares on the measure trade at an average 15.4 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. 

 

CDL Hospitality Trust (CDREIT SP), the hotel operator partly-owned by City Developments (CIT SP), gained 0.5% to $2.15. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its share-price forecast to $2.30 from $2.10 and maintained its “overweight” rating.

 

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. (OCBC SP), the lender that owns Singapore’s biggest life insurer, rose 0.4% to $9.05. The bank may report today third-quarter profit of $556.8 million, according to the average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. That compares with $450 million a year earlier.

 

SMRT Corp. (MRT SP), Singapore’s biggest commuter train operator, fell 1.5% to $2.02. The company said second- quarter profit slipped 13% to $45.8 million.

Thomson Medical Centre (THOM SP), a Singapore-based hospital operator, surged 61% to $1.74. The company said Sasteria, an investment vehicle of Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim, offered to buy the rest of the company after taking a 39.34% stake. The mandatory conditional offer is for $1.75 a share, it said.

 

Venture Corp. (VMS SP), Singapore’s biggest publicly listed contract maker of electronics, rose 0.7% to $9.12. The company said third-quarter net income climbed 27% to $48.6 million from a year earlier.