Singapore Stocks-Up by midday; NOL extends winning streak

* Index gains 0.44 percent as Asian markets strengthen

* NOL up for third straight session, rises to six-month high

By Mark Tay

SINGAPORE, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Singapore shares ticked higher as upbeat manufacturing data from the U.S. and China boosted overseas markets on expectations of global economic growth.

Shares of container shipper, Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) , were the top gainer on the benchmark Straits Times Index, extending recent gains.

The stock has jumped about 12 percent over the past three sessions on market talk it may follow its rivals and raise its freight rates. By midday, NOL shares were up about 5 percent to S$1.43.

By 0500 GMT, the Straits Times Index (STI) was up 0.44 percent, or 12.8 points, at 2917.56. Around 1.58 billion shares worth S$913 million were traded, compared with 2.1 billion shares worth S$673.5 million by the same time on Wednesday.

An index of the U.S. manufacturing sector rose in January to its highest level since June, an industry group said, while China's factory sector expanded slightly, confounding expectations for a contraction. Germany reported its first rise in manufacturing output in four months.

"At the moment, the market looks to be in a pretty bullish mode, so everybody is using whatever good news to continue the buying spree," said Carey Wong, an investment analyst at OCBC Investment Research.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed as much as 1.3 percent to a five-month high of 438.52, with Australia and China leading the gains.

Wong said market focus in Singapore was on smaller stocks.

"If you look at the value versus the trading volume, the average stock traded is about S$0.50, so that is pretty indicative of the kinds of stocks being played," Wong said.

Sshares of Broadway Industrial Group, a hard disk drive components maker, jumped 13 percent to a five-month high after its customer Seagate Technology Plc reported strong earnings and forecasted more shipments for this quarter.

Small-cap oil and gas services firm, See Hup Seng, also jumped as much as 12 percent after it said on Wednesday its subsidiary had won a new five-year-contract. {ID:nL4E8D2128] (Editing by Anshuman Daga)