Singapore Stock Market Updates on 04/11/09

Morning Highlights

Singapore shares are recovering from yesterday’s losses, with the STI opens up 0.45% at 2633.31. There is a good support at 2617.88

With the economy healing, China Huaneng - the new owner of Tuas Power - has decided to go ahead with building a $2 billion clean coal/ biomass cogeneration plant on Jurong Island. (Business Times)

Most U.S. stocks rose after Warren Buffett agreed to buy Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. and Stanley Works said it will take over Black & Decker Corp, while technology shares fell on an analyst downgrade of chipmakers.

Burlington Northern surged 28% after Buffett made what he called an “all-in wager” on the nation’s economy. Black & Decker rallied 31%, the most since at least 1980. Energy and raw-materials producers increased as oil advanced and gold climbed to a record. Intel Corp led the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower as Morgan Stanley reduced its rating on U.S. semiconductor stocks to “cautious.” (Bloomberg)

Gold miners were outperforming again, after spot gold rallied to a record high of $1,089.10 per troy ounce in late New York trade Tuesday, helped by news of the Indian central bank's purchase of gold from the International Monetary Fund. Spot gold was last at $1,080.95 per troy ounce, down $3.35 from the New York close.

Corporate Announcement

Cosco Corp announced a 3Q09 net profit of $22.3mn, a drop of 80% year-on-year. The company expects earnings for the whole of FY2009 to be substantially lower than FY2008.

Ezra’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Ezra Energy Services Pte Ltdhas acquired 90% of Intrepid Global Pte Ltd for a cash consideration of $180,000 and non-cash consideration of 1.5mn fully-paid up shares of Ezra currently held as treasury shares.

News Updates

• Berkshire Hathaway buying out rest of Burlington Northern Santa Fe at price of $100/share‏
• U.S. stocks cede Monday gains as worries over financials eclipse M&A‏
• U.S. factory orders increase for fifth month in six, rising stronger-than-forecast 0.9%
• GM's October sales rise 4.7%, Ford's rise 2.6%; Chrysler's sales fall 30%
• GM board votes to keep Opel, plans to restructure European operations: reports‏

Quick Picks: Here is a quick pick screen that we have designed to pick out potential stocks, both Bullish and Bearish. These are measured with emphasis on larger changes in price and volume. 

Bullish Stocks (Singapore)

	Symbol	Name	Entry	SL	TSL	TP	Remarks
1		Hwa Hong	0.505	0.45		0.56	Breakout and Paused. Not Entered!
2	BIOS	Biosensors International	0.735	0.69		0.78

Bearish Stocks (Singapore)

	Symbol	Name	Entry	SL	TSL	TP	Remarks
1	CMLT	Capitamall Trust	1.53	1.66		1.40
2	FRNM	Fraser & Neave Ltd	3.73	3.88		3.58
3	AUSG	AusGroup Ltd	0.605	0.675		0.535	CANCELLED
4	STEL	Singapore Telecommunications	2.89	2.99		2.79

Stock Prices last updated at 16:20 (Singapore Time)

Here’s Our Mid Term Holding Opportunities for property shares.

1. Allgreen Properties – Buy at 1.21, Stop Loss at 1.04
2. City Development – Buy at 10.50, Stop Loss at 9.55
3. Wing Tai Holdings – Buy at 1.75, Stop Loss at 1.55
4. Ezra – Buy at 2.08, Stop Loss at 1.66
5. Lookout for Keppel Corp

Afternoon Highlights

The STI is holding up above the support line and range-bounded.

The World Bank upgraded its 2009 economic growth forecast for China to 8.4% on the back of huge public spending but warned stronger domestic demand was needed to ensure a sustainable recovery.

Updates on Hong Kong and China (RTTNews)

Hong Kong economic activity increased in October, signaling an improvement in overall business conditions, as said by the HSBC and Market Economics.

The HSBC Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 54.6 in October from 51.8 in September. This was the highest reading in 22 months. A PMI reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 signals contraction.

On the other hand, the growth in China’s services sector activity slowed in October as reflected in a survey by HSBC and Market Economics. The seasonally adjusted HSBC Business Activity Index fell to a four-month low of 56.5 in October.

The composite output index, measuring private sector activity and includes both services and manufacturing activity, stood at 56.9, declining for the second consecutive month, mainly due to the slower growth in services.

Output and new business in the private sector grew at a slower pace in October. However, staffing levels rose at the fastest pace in 26 months. Meanwhile,overall input and output prices increased at a slower pace in China.

In Summary,

Singapore shares closed up 27.09 points, or 1.03%, at 2648.64. Volume has dried up to only 1.1292 billion traded.  Many investors were on the sidelines ahead of the results of the U.S. Federal Reserve decision on interest rate policy.

With reference to the 30mins chart,

we can see that the index is range-bounded with no major movement. Inverted cup is spotted with broaden wedge ascending, therefore, signifying that the market is bearish. High chance that index will continue to drop further.

Please note that the AusGroup is cancelled as the stock gapped down below the breakout price at open, hence, we were not able to capture the trigger. Although Hwa Hong is trading at the breakout price, we have yet to enter our order as the price stays stagnant throughout after being triggered. We will have to watch how the stock performs in tomorrow’s session.