SINGAPORE stocks inched another step closer towards the 3,300-point mark today, buoyed by upbeat China economic data and an improved global outlook.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) added 4.6 points, or 0.14 per cent to 3,273.91 for its sixth advance in the last seven sessions. Some 4.2 billion stocks worth 1.7 billion changed hands.

Major regional markets mostly headed higher, with the brightest gains of 2.41 per cent seen in Shanghai. Hong Kong added 0.40 per cent, while Taiwan rose 0.55 per cent.

However, Japan retreated 0.94 per cent, while South Korea shed 0.36 per cent.

The regional sentiment was mostly upbeat on the strength of data showing Chinese industrial companies' profits rising 17 per cent last month from a year earlier, the best reading in 2012.

Back home, the 30 STI component stocks ended mixed, with 14 gainers, 12 losers and four unchanged.

Among those in positive ground were commodity counters Wilmar International, up five cents to $3.89, Noble Group, 2.5 cents in front to $1.25, and Olam International, a cent higher to $1.64.

The day's most active counter was Ipco, which closed flat at 2.2 cents with 508.9 million shares traded.