The Singapore Mercantile Exchange will launch the world’s first international black pepper futures contract on Feb. 10, the exchange said on Friday, reported Reuters.

SMX, owned by India’s Financial Technologies (FITE.NS), is introducing more products to boost liquidity in its commodity and currency contracts since it launched in August 2010.

Singapore shares rose by midday Friday, outperforming other Asian bourses, as gains in blue chips such as Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp and casino operator Genting Singapore PLC helped to lift the benchmark index.

Traders said the Straits Times Index was playing catch up with other Asian equities as it fell slightly in the previous session despite strong gains in other regional bourses.

Citigroup raised its price target on Singapore rig builder SembCorp Marine to $5.90 from $4.76 and kept its buy rating.

By 11:20 a.m., SembCorp Marine’s shares were down 0.6% at $4.86.

Shares of Singapore-listed Chinese property developer Ying Li International Real Estate surged as much as 12% to a six-month high after stockbroker DBS Vickers issued a bullish report on the firm, reported Reuters.

By 10:41 a.m. on Friday, Ying Li shares were 9.2% higher at $0.355 with 44.4 million shares traded. This was 4.3 times its average daily volume over the last five sessions.