Singapore

NOBLE Group's chairman and founder increased his holding in Asia's biggest commodity trading house as Standard & Poor's said the company's credit rating was unaffected by criticism over its accounting practices. The shares gained S$0.065 to S$1.01 on Tuesday.

Richard Elman purchased 4.8 million shares at a price of 93.54 Singapore cents a share in a transaction worth about S$4.5 million, lifting his stake in Noble to 21 per cent, according to a March 2 filing.