Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.3% to 3,024.76 as of the 12:30 p.m. trading break. Three stocks dropped for each that rose on the 30-member gauge.

Shares on the measure trade at an average 14.7 times estimated earnings, compared with about 17.4 times at the beginning of the year, according to Bloomberg data. The following shares were among the most active in the market. 

 

Phone companies: Shares of phone operators dropped after the government said it will auction its remaining 3G mobile spectrum in November, sparking concern this will result in the entry of new players and increased competition in the industry.

 

Singapore Telecommunications (ST SP), Southeast Asia’s biggest phone company, fell 1.6% to S$3.06. Starhub (STH SP), Singapore’s second-largest phone company, declined 2.8% to $2.42. MobileOne (M1 SP), the smallest of the three operators, slipped 1.3% to $2.23.

 

“We question the rational of a fresh auction as the additional spectrum could otherwise be more equitably distributed among existing operators,” DMG & Partners Securities Pte. said in a note today. “Singapore’s telecommunications market is saturated.” The brokerage has a “neutral” rating on the sector.

 

CapitaMalls Asia (CMA SP), the shopping mall operator partly owned by CapitaLand (CAPL SP), gained 1.4% to $2.24. The company said it and parent won a tender for a site in the eastern Singapore town of Bedok. The partners will pay the government $788.9 million for the property, which will be developed into a residential and retail complex. CapitaLand rose 0.5% to $4.

 

Marco Polo Marine (MPM SP), a shipping and shipbuilding company, climbed 2.4% to 43.5 cents. The company said it won a contract, valued at $4 million, to transport coal in Indonesia.

 

Parkway Life Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT SP), the health-care trust partly owned by Asia’s biggest hospital operator, gained 2% to $1.57. CIMB Group Holdings raised its share-price forecast to $1.91 from $1.57 and maintained its “outperform” rating.