Morning Highlights

There Are No Quick Picks For Today

Singapore shares headed lower following a drop in US markets led by energy stocks and ongoing concerns about the euro zone's debt problems, with STI open down 4.31 points at 2711.13. 

  • SGX to trade Nikkei Dividend Index Futures
  • Eng Kong Holdings Ltd trading halt, pending announcement 

Lookout for Economic News Release For Today:

  1. Singapore May PMI Manufacturing numbers
  2. U.S. April’s Pending Home Sales 

Corporate Announcements:

  1. Ezra won a new contract worth up to US$80mn in Africa to fabricate and deliver an offshore accommodation structure for a major oil and gas player.
  2. Noble stated that they are still in discussion with Gloucester on a proposal which may involve Gloucester acquiring certain of Noble’s Australian coal assets.

News Updates:

  1. HK retail sales rise 15.6% in April
  2. India PM says economy to grow at 8.5%.
  3. Hewlett-Packard plans to spend US$1 billion to bolster its corporate services business, and will shrink its workforce by 3,000 jobs over three years as it consolidates related operations.
  4. US April construction spending rose 2.7%, the biggest advance since August 2000, to an annual rate of US$869.1 billion. the largest gain in nearly 10 yrs.
  5. U.S. stocks' losses accelerate into the close; Dow ends down 113 points
  6. Japan Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will announce his resignation at an emergency meeting of ruling Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers later Wednesday, national broadcaster NHK reported.‏
  7. The yen slipped against the dollar on Wednesday after Japanese media reported that Prime Minister intends to resign, prompting investors to sell the currency slightly.
  8. Property sales in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen fell as much as 70% in May as developers delay sales following government tightening measures.
  9. Trading in South Korea was closed for a holiday.