12:40 PM
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Singapore shares inched higher by midday, buoyed by gains in commodity firm Olam International Ltd and in line with other Asian bourses on optimism for progress in resolving the U.S. budget crisis.
The benchmark Straits Times Index rose 0.3 percent to 3,166.66 points, while the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.4 percent.
Olam shares rose 6 percent to S$1.48 on some short-covering ahead of the ex-rights trading date of Dec. 28 under its $712.5 million rights issue plan.
Shipbuilder COSCO Corp (Singapore) Ltd rose 2.3 percent to S$0.89 after it said it won a contract worth over $370 million to build a floating vessel for a European company.
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