Buyers nibbled at stocks amid caution ahead of a statement from the US Federal Reserve early tomorrow morning (3am Singapore time) after it wraps up a two-day policy meeting.

With deflation becoming a worry for central banks worldwide, investors are hoping that the Fed will delay raising interest rates. Earlier today, Singapore's central bank surprised markets by easing monetary policy in response to weaker oil prices and global economic prospects.

"We do see the possibility (of) the Fed being increasingly torn between strong jobs data with a potentially steep decline in headline inflation on the back of a plunge in oil prices," said UOB economists wrote in a note.

At 10:31am (0231 GMT), the Straits Times Index was up 0.2% at 3,418.73. Market breadth was slightly positive.

Tritech Group rose 8.1% to 17.3 cents on strong volume after the company said an international financial institution had expressed interest in investing up to US$3 billion ($3.9 billion) in some of its water-treatment projects.

Armarda Group jumped 33.3% to 0.4 cent after the company said it will place out new shares to raise $10.6 million to fund acquisitions.

Among blue chips, notable gainers included Keppel Corp, up 1.3% at $8.37, and Noble Group, up 2.4% at $1.05.