SINGAPORE (Mar 16): Singapore shares recouped some of its Friday' s losses as investors await this week' s Federal Reserve meeting for clues on the timeline for higher interest rates.

The benchmark Straits Times Index rose 13.27 or 0.4% to close at 3,376.04. In the broader market, about 1.1 billion shares with a value of $901 million were traded. Losers outnumbered gainers 284 to 155.

In a note out today, research house DBS Vickers Securities expects the STI to stay resilient. The stock index has fallen below 3,380 but the research house doesn' t expect it to slide to 3,330.

" We believe that the Singapore equity market is trading near its valuation trough as the stock market decline in the past 2-3 weeks was driven more by the weak SGD rather than contagion, financial crisis or recession risks," wrote analysts at DBS.

Moreover, DBS Vickers does not rule out a rebound in the Singapore Dollar against the US Dollar in the fiscal second-quarter. Expectations are high for the US Fed to tighten its monetary policy, while the Monetary Authority of Singapore is likely to ease policy. But the decline is overdone, says the house.

Tiger Airways Holdings  surged 4.8% or 1.5 cents to 32.5 cents with 33.7 million shares traded after oil prices fell sharply. West Texas Intermediate crude lost 2.2% to US$43.87 a barrel. A record surplus in US crude inventories may also soon strain the country' s storage capacity, renewing the slump in oil prices, the International Energy Agency said.

Global Tech (Holdings), the distributor cellular handsets and related accessories in Hong Kong and China, received a query from the SGX. The stock went up as high as 80% to 1.8 cents before closing at 1.5 cents with 3.1 million shares traded. Global Tech said it was not aware of any reasons for the unusual price movements nor has it any information that needed to be disclosed.

Sinarmas Land  was also queried from the SGX for unusual price movements after its stock fell 7.8% to close 70.5 cents each with 4.9 million shares traded. Although Sinarmas has not responded, Reuters reported that PT Puradelta Lestari, Sinarmas' Indonesian industrial property unit, will sell 10-20% stake in an initial public offering in June, according to a Jakarta Stock Exchange official.

Armarda shed 20% or 0.1 cent to 0.4 cent with 21.9 million shares traded after it announced before the market opened this morning, plans to acquire a 90% stake in Guiyang Zhongdian Gaoxin Digital Technologies, the operator of internet data centre services and businesses in China, for $24.7 million in cash, shares and take over HK$37 million worth of receivables in Guiyang Zhongdian' s favour.

 

SINGAPORE (Mar 16): Singapore stocks hung on to their gains at noon after opening lower on Monday.

The benchmark STI was up 18.93 points or 0.56% to 3,381.70 as at 12.51 p.m., bucking the downward trend of regional indices.

Some 538.4 million shares worth $439.6 million changed hands, with losers outnumbering gainers 214 to 150.

Bellwethers DBS , Singtel  and UOB  were up by 20 cents, 1 cent and 32 cents to $19.76. $4.14 and $22.83 respectively.

Global Tech (Holdings) was the top percentage gainer, up 80% or 0.8 cent to 1.8 cents with 2.4 million shares traded. This triggered a query on its unusual price and volume movement by from the Singapore Exchange. Global Tech says it is not aware of any reasons for these movements or has any information that needs to be disclosed.

Tiger Airways Holdings also surged 6.5% or 2 cents to 33 cents with 29.6 million shares traded as oil prices fell sharply. West Texas Intermediate crude lost 2.2% to US$43.87 a barrel. A record surplus in US crude inventories may soon strain the country' s storage capacity, renewing the slump in oil prices, the International Energy Agency said.

Armarda shed 20% or 0.1 cent to 0.4 cent with 20.6 million shares traded after it announced plans to acquire a 90% stake in Guiyang Zhongdian Gaoxin Digital Technologies, the operator of internet data centre services and businesses in China, for $24.7 million in cash, shares and take over HK$37 million worth of receivables in Guiyang Zhongdian' s favour.

 

SINGAPORE (Mar 16): The Singapore market is expected to open weaker in line with its Asian counterparts, as investors await this week' s Federal Reserve meeting for clues on the timeline for higher US interest rates. Energy companies led losses as oil resumed last week&rsquo s decline.

&ldquo The tightening cycle will be very gradual given the impact of the US dollar&rsquo s strength on US corporate earnings," says Nader Naeimi, who helps manage about US$118 billion as Sydney-based head of dynamic asset allocation at AMP Capital Investors, said by phone. " The US can delay rate hikes as growth isn' t overheating and inflation isn&rsquo t an issue."

On Friday, the Straits Times Index ended 0.3% lower at 3,362.77. Some 1.11 billion shares worth $910.3 million changed hands, down from 1.27 billion shares worth $1.01 billion shares on Thursday. Market breadth was barely positive, with 215 gainers and 192 decliners.  

Here are some stocks that could move the market this morning.

Singapore Press Holdings  says wholly-owned subsidiary SPH Interactive has bought a 20% stake in DC Frontiers, the operator of " Handshakes" , an analytics platform for relational information about companies and the people who run or own them, for $2 million. SPH last traded at $4.09.

Armarda Group  plans to acquire a 90% stake in Guiyang Zhongdian Gaoxin Digital Technologies, the operator of internet data centre services and businesses in China, for $24.7 million in cash, shares and HK$37 million worth of receivables in Guiyang Zhongdian&rsquo s favour. The stock last traded at 0.5 cents.

Malaysia' s IHH Healthcare Bhd Asia' s largest hospital operator by stock market value, has scrapped its proposal to buy Singapore' s Radlink-Asia for 346.53 million ringgit ($130 million). IHH Healthcare Bhd last traded at $2.01.

Dairy Farm International said its agreement to acquire a 19.99% stake in Yonghui Superstores for RMB5.7 billion ($1.3 billion) has received its final approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission. The stock last traded at US$9.56.

Serial System the distributor of consumer electronic products, has agreed to acquire a 100% stake in Swift Value which is in the business of distribution of printer accessories such as ink cartridg

es and toners. Serial System last traded at 19 cents.

Vard Holdings , the vessel builder, has terminated two shipbuilding contracts with the affiliates of E.R. Offshore after they filed for insolvency at a local court in Germany. The stock last traded at 52 cents.

Vibrant Group , the logistics, real-estate and financial services group, reported a 14.8% drop in earnings for the 3Q15 ended Jan to $7.8 million mainly due to fair value loss on marketable securities compared to the fair value gain on marketable securities in the previous corresponding period. Vibrant last traded at 10 cents.

 

SINGAPORE (March 13): Stocks in Singapore remained listless, bucking gains in most other Asian markets, with investors simply content to stay out.

At 12:25pm, the Straits Times Index was down 0.2% at 3,365.65.

Volume was thin at slightly more than 500 million shares. Market breadth was neutral.

Among blue chips, Singapore Airlines  fell 2% to $11.66, Thai Beverage declined 2% to 73.5 cents and Jardine Matheson Holding  retreated 1.7% to US$62.28, while CapitaMall Trust    rose 1.4% to $2.10, Golden Agri-Resources  climbed 1.3% to 40.5 cents and Noble Group  advanced 1.1% to 94 cents.

Sino Construction  was one of the most heavily traded stocks, down 19.6% to 3.7 cents, with more than 28 million shares changing hands.

Edward Lee Ewe Ming and Zhang Yan Min had their stakes substantially pared down earlier this week and are no longer substantial shareholders. Some of their shares were held by financial institutions, according to regulatory filings.

The sharp pullback in Sino Construction' s share price in recent weeks followed a Feb 28 announcement by the company that it needed more time to release its 2014 results, which are expected to show a loss.

Edition was another big decliner, falling 21.7% to 1.8 cents, after the company said it would raise up to $47 million through a rights issue.

Sinotel Technologies surged 95.9% to 9.6 cents, closing in on the price of 9.8 cents its executive chairman Jia Yue Ting had offered to take over the company.

 

SINGAPORE (March 13): Wall Street' s rebound overnight, driven by official data showing a drop in US retail sales, is likely to lift Singapore shares.

Sales at US retailers declined in February for a third straight month. The data raised hopes that the Federal Reserve would delay raising interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial rose 1.5% to 17895.22, the S& P 500 climbed 1.3% to 2,065.96 and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.9% to 4,893.29.

In Singapore, the Straits Times Index closed 0.2% lower at 3,373.60 yesterday.

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS:

Far East Orchard has set up a $1-billion multi-currency medium-term note programme to raise funds for general corporate purposes.

Far East Orchard shares closed 0.3% lower at $1.67 yesterday.

Edition is seeking to raise up to $47 million through a rights issue.

Edition shares were not traded yesterday. They last closed at 2.3 cents.

Interra Resources  has offered US$7.4 million in cash and shares to buy a stake in an Indonesian company that owns the rights to explore for hydrocarbons in the Benakat Barat field in South Sumatra.

Interra Resources shares ended flat at 13.9 cents yesterday.

Technics Oil & Gas  is selling its property at 72 Loyang Way to Soilbuild Business Space REIT for $97 million. It will then lease back the building for 15 years.

Technics shares ended flat at 69.5 cents yesterday.

Sysma Holdings reported earnings of $1.6 million for the six months to Jan 31, up slightly from $1.5 million a year earlier.

Sysma shares ended flat at 27.5 cents yesterday.

Gaylin Holdings  will offer US$15.8 million for full control of Rig Marine Holdings.

Gaylin shares fell 1.8% to 55 cents yesterday.

United Envirotech  reported earnings of $12.8 million for the quarter ended Dec 31, up from $9.3 million a year earlier.

United Envirotech shares rose 0.3% to $1.645 yesterday.

Sinotel Technologies  has received a takeover offer of 9.8 cents a share from its executive chairman Jia Yue Ting.

The offer price is double Sinotel' last closing price of 4.9 cents on March 9. (congratulations to those who bought cheap !)

Nordic Group  will pay $26 million to acquire Austin Energy (Asia), a company specialising in thermal insulation, fireproofing and fire protection services in the petrochemical, pharmaceutical and offshore industries.

Nordic Group shares rose 7% to 13.7 cents yesterday.  

 

S& P +1.26%    2,065.95   /  +25.71

Wall St. bounces back in broad rally bank shares gain

  U.S. stocks rose in a broad rally on Thursday, bouncing back from two days of losses, helped by weaker retail sales that paused the dollar' s recent rally and tempered the outlook for interest rates.

The day' s gains lifted the Dow and S& P 500 back into positive territory for the year so far.

Banking shares rallied following the Federal Reserve' s annual check-up on the industry' s health. The S& P financial sector .SPSY rose 2.2 percent and was the day' s biggest gainer. A weak outlook from Intel, however, limited gains in the tech sector.

Retail sales unexpectedly dropped for a third month in February, which helped the euro rebound from a 12-year low versus the dollar. Recent weakness in stocks has largely been driven by Friday' s stronger-than-expected jobs data, which underscored views the Fed could raise rates as early as June.

" To me, it shows maybe that moving the rate increase closer has potential fallout with regard to the ever-stronger U.S. dollar, and that' s a headwind for growth and a headwind for earnings for a lot of companies that do business outside the U.S.," said Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB& T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 259.83 points, or 1.47 percent, to 17,895.22, while the S& P 500 .SPX gained 25.71 points, or 1.26 percent, to 2,065.95. The day' s percentage gains were the biggest for both the Dow and S& P 500 in about a month.

The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 43.35 points, or 0.89 percent, to 4,893.29.

The rally represented just a partial rebound after a recent bout of weakness, which has left the S& P 500 down 2.4 percent from its March 2 record closing high.

Citigroup (C.N) passed in the Fed review, allowing it to raise dividends and sending shares up 3.3 percent to $54.08. Bank of America (BAC.N) was told to get a better grip on internal controls and its data models shares slipped 0.1 percent to $16.09.

Intel Corp (INTC.O) slashed its first-quarter revenue forecast, citing lower-than-expected demand for business PCs and lower inventory levels across the PC supply chain. Shares of the Dow component fell 4.7 percent to $30.80 and limited the Nasdaq' s advance.

Shares of Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) rose 4.2 percent to $107.17 and were the biggest percentage gainer in the Dow after it said it has started work on a sequel to " Frozen," the best-selling animated movie of all time. Shares of Mattel (MAT.O) gained 4.2 percent to $25.65.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 2,241 to 823, for a 2.72-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq, 1,982 issues rose and 765 fell, a 2.59-to-1 ratio.

The S& P 500 index posted 22 new 52-week highs and 8 new lows the Nasdaq Composite recorded 136 new highs and 73 new lows.

About 6.5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, compared with the 6.6 billion average for the month to date, according to data from BATS Global Markets.

 

SINGAPORE (March 12): Singapore shares ran out of steam as investors mostly avoided risk assets amid growing concerns that US interest rates might soon head higher.

Volume was light with just 1.27 billion shares worth $1.01 billion changing hands, down from 1.36 billion shares worth $1.21 billion on Wednesday.

Decliners outnumbered gainers 228 to 188.

The Straits Times Index slipped 0.2% to 3,373.60.

" The tug of war between US tightening and global easing will continue and the implications for financial markets are unclear," Richard Jerram, chief economist at Bank of Singapore, wrote in a note.

But according to DBS Vickers analyst Yeo Kee Yen, there is still room for the local market to head higher in the near term.

" While the STI dipped marginally below our stated 3,380 near-term support, we maintain our view that the Singapore market should be resilient amid the current US rate hike uncertainty and (weakness in the) Singapore dollar against the US dollar," Yeo said in a note.

" The current weakness is due more to funds outflow from the weak Singapore dollar rather than contagion, crisis or recession concerns," he said.

Trading centred largely on penny stocks, such as Armarda Group , which jumped 25% to 0.5 cent on a volume of 101.3 million shares SIIC Environment, which rose 4.3% to 14.5 cents and Moya Asia, which advanced 5.9% to 5.4 cents.

Yoma Strategic Holdings rose 12.8% to 44 cents as investors welcomed news that the company had finally received regulatory approval to extend the lease for its Landmark development site in downtown Yangon. The green light paves the way for it to proceed to build a hotel and other properties.

 

SINGAPORE (March 12): Singapore shares may open lower on lingering concerns that the US central bank may soon raise interest rates as the world' s biggest economy continues to strengthen.

The spectre of higher borrowing costs weighed on US stocks overnight.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2% to 17,635.39, the S& P 500 declined 0.2% to 2,040.24 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.2% to 4,849.94.

" Stock markets are again mostly lower across the board," said Rabobank. " Whispers that the Federal Reserve could consider a rate hike as soon as June have been on the increase since last week' s strong US February employment report."

In Singapore, the Straits Times Index fell 0.6% to 3,378.59 yesterday.

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS:

BlackGold Natural Resources will make its trading debut following the completion of a reverse takeover by NH Ceramics

Yoma Strategic Holdings has received approval from the Myanmar government to extend the lease for its Landmark Development site, where it intends to redevelop the former headquarters of the Burma Railways Company into a five-star hotel.

Yoma shares fell 3.7% to 39 cents yesterday.

Oxley Holdings  has acquired an 11-storey condominium in Tokyo for JPY655 million ($7.5 million).  

Oxley shares fell 1.1% to 46 cents yesterday.

Global Logistic Properties  has signed new leasing agreements totalling 63,000 sq m with four companies in China.

GLP shares fell 0.4% to $2.51 yesterday.

China Flexible Packaging Holdings reported a net loss of RMB17.9 million ($4 million) for the three months to Jan 31, compared to a loss of RMB12 million a year earlier.

China Flexible Packaging shares rose 6.7% to 1.6 cents yesterday.

LifeBrandz  turned in a net loss of $929,000 for the quarter ended Jan 31, compared to a loss of $593,000 a year earlier.

LifeBrandz shares ended flat at 0.3 cent yesterday.

Khong Guan Flour Milling reported earnings of $31,000 for the six months to Jan 31, up from $14,000 a year earlier.

Khong Guan shares were not traded yesterday. They last closed at $2.08.