Singapore stocks edge up 0.23%

Singapore shares closed 0.23 percent higher on Thursday, close to three-week highs amid selective buying, but trading was still quiet as most investors were away for year-end holiday. The benchmark Straits Times Index rose 7.07 points to close 3, 134.36 points, at one point touching 3,138.15 points, its highest level since December 5. Trading volume was 3.81 billion shares worth 618 million Singapore dollars. Advancers outnumbered decliners 320 to 135, while 495 stocks closed unchanged. Among top actives, Blumont Group jumped 16.7 percent to 9.1 Singapore cents. It agreed on a 30 million U.S. dollars secured loan facility by Wintercrest Advisors, a wholly owned unit of multi-strategy hedge fund Platinum Partners Value Arbitrage Fund. The facility will bear interest at 10 percent per annum, as well as a drawdown fee of 5 percent of the total facility and an administration fee of 0.5 percent of the total outstanding amount for each calendar month. Loans drawn under the facility must be repaid in full six months from the first drawdown. The facility is secured by all of Blumont's interests in Discovery Metals, Celsius Coal, Cokal, Kidman Resources and Powerlite Ventures. C&G Environmental Protection Holdings dropped 5.7 percent to 33 Singapore cents. It announced that it has entered into a legally binding framework agreement with Grandblue Environment for a 100 percent sale of its equity interest in C&G Environmental Protection (China) Company Limited. The proposed consideration for this sale is valued approximately 385.4 million Singapore dollars and will be satisfied by cash and the issuance and allotment of new ordinary shares in the share capital of Grandblue. Post transaction, C&G will emerge as second largest shareholder with more than 10 percent stake in Grandblue. This is part of C&G's Strategic initiative to enable a change of business platform to hold the Group's waste-to-energy assets in China through Grandblue, a leading diversified China utility and environmental player. City Developments Limited inched down 0.1 percent to 9.6 Singapore dollars. It has announced that its subsidiary, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, will extend its global hotel portfolio with the acquisition of a new hotel in the Chelsea district of London, England. The Hotel is a luxury property that borders the River Thames and offers 154 suites and four penthouses. The primary lease to be acquired has a remaining term of approximately 98 years. The purchase price for the hotel is 65 million British Pounds, subject to standard purchase price adjustments, and completion of the acquisition is expected to occur during the first quarter of 2014. Among the top gainers, Fraser and Neave rose 3.9 percent to 6. 20 Singapore dollars, while Jardine Matheson became one of the top losers by falling 0.2 percent to 51.51 U.S. dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 0.6102 British Pounds and 1.27 Singapore dollars)