Singapore Stock Market Updates On 04/12/09

Morning Highlights

STI opened soft at 2797.28 after a late sell-off on Wall Street. Do lookout for the resistance level at 2808.18.

• UIC broke high of 1.93, to wait for setups. However, the trading volume so far is very thin – we are on cautious lookout.
• China XLX on the lookout for 0.59
• We are on the lookout for Breadtalk
• CapitaCommercial broke high of 1.17, to wait for setups

Most of the Asian stock markets were also lowered, tracking yesterday’s US drop. Amongst which Japan and Korea were weighed down by profit-taking as investors cashed in ahead of U.S. payrolls data.

A weaker-than-expected result for U.S. ISM manufacturing and retail sales hurt sentiment for U.S. stocks Thursday, and that was carrying over into Asia as it fueled worries of a weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report later.

Preferably, we will stay out of market for now… (Update 11:38)

News Updates:

1. Singapore budget carrier Tiger Airways, 49% owned by Singapore Airlines and other investors including Temasek, has tapped three banks for an IPO expected in January, sources said on Thursday. Citigroup and Morgan Stanley are joint book-runners and joint lead managers for the IPO, while DBS is joint lead manager. However, no firm decision has been made at this time yet. (Reuters)
2. Financial institutions led the retreat in the S&P 500 as Bank of America Corp. prepared to sell more than $18 billion in equity to repay government bailout funds. American Express Co. lost 5.3% after the Institute for Supply Management’s index of non-manufacturing businesses missed the median economist estimate. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. led retailers lower after reporting a decrease in November sales. (Bloomberg)
3. U.S. productivity revised lower but is at best rate in six years.
4. U.S. initial jobless claims decline by 5000 to 457000.
5. U.S. 30 year mortgage rates at all-time low

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.  <The Quick Picks referred herein contain overnight positions from Yesterday>

Stock Prices last updated at 14.39 (Singapore Time)

Here’s Our Mid Term Holding Opportunities:

1. OLAM – Buy at 2.88, Stop Loss at 2.42

Afternoon Highlights

Market is retesting resistance level of 2808.18 at 11:00 but fails and succumbs to the selling pressure. Nonetheless, down side is pretty contained and now, market is seen drifting aimlessly. There is a support range between 2770.95 – 2782.85.

• Hyflux broke high of 3.17, to wait for setup
• CDL Hospitality Trust broke high of 1.63, to wait for setups

Sectors On Our Lookout List Include:

• Financial: DBS, UOB and OCBC (SGX had yet to perform)
• Healthcare: Parkway
• REITs: CapitaCommercial
• Mid Cap: SembcCorp, UOL, Keppel Land and Indofood Agri

• Commodity sector : Noble Group & Olam

Sectors That We Will Avoid Trading Now Include:

• Oil & Gas (Currently the better performing stock will be Ezra)
• China (Currently the stronger performing stock will be Yangzijiang and China XLX)
• Others include Technology and Telecommunication which are Venture, Singtel, M1 and Starhub

News Updates:

1. Japan's Nikkei average rose above 10,000 for the first time in five weeks on Friday as exporters such as Canon Inc climbed on a weaker yen, though gains in the benchmark were limited following sharp rallies.
2. ST Engineering said on Friday its aerospace arm, ST Aerospace, has secured a US$90 million contract to provide airframe maintenance services for a major US airline. (Business Times)
3. Las Vegas Sands Corp expects to open its $5.5 billon, 2,700-room Singapore casino resort in phases starting in the first quarter of next year, a company spokesman said on Thursday. (Reuters)

In Summary

Market traded sideway throughout the afternoon session. Eventually ended close down 17.17 points to 2791.01.

Sentiment remains bullish