Singapore Stock Market Updates On 27/01/10

Morning Highlights

Our Focus For Today Is On Property & Financial Sector – Short Selling

The STI opened at 2741.26 and inched up slightly. Most of the other markets were lower. Australian market falling sharply on losses in financial and materials shares. U.S stocks slip into red as financials decline and worries over China tightening.

Market is doing a throwback today. During the throwback, volume will dry up. So, do lookout for setups that form today. We are also on focusing on commodity shares.

Corporate Announcements

Keppel Corp announced a 4Y09 net profit of $343mn, up 30.4% year-on-year. This takes Keppel Corp’s total profit for the year of 2009 to $1.63 billion.The company also announced a final cash dividend of $0.23 per share and a special dividend…

The special dividend will be paid in the form of 326million K-Green Trust units (comprising approximately 50.5% of the KGT Units to be issued) which will be separately listed and traded on the SGX-ST. This translates into an implied value of approximately S$1.16 per KGT Unit. Accordingly, the distribution value per Share is approximately 23 cents (on the basis of 1 KGT Unit for 5 Shares).

Noble’s 87.7% owned Gloucester Coal released its second quarter 2009/10 sales figures which showed coal sales down 9% year-on-year (yoy) to 444,000 metric tons but coking coal sales was up 73% yoy to 149,000 tons. Gloucester Coal said the outlook for coking coal is strong and augurs well to achieve a substantial price increase in the coming financial year.

News Updates

1. The US budget deficit for the current fiscal year will come in at US$1.3 trillion, down slightly from the record US$1.4 trillion deficit posted last year, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday.
2. The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes rose to 55.9 in January from an upwardly revised 53.6 in December.
3. The S&P composite index of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas slipped 0.2% in November after a revised 0.1 per cent October dip, for a 5.3 per cent annual drop.
4. U.K. economy barely escapes recession with 0.1% rise in fourth quarter‏.
5. S&P warns it may downgrade Japan sovereign ratings‏.
6. Yahoo swings to profit, posts sales decline; CEO cites improving market for display ads‏.

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. 

Bearish Stocks (Singapore)

Stock Prices last updated at 17:05 (Singapore Time)

Afternoon Highlights

Koon Holdings said full year profit for 2009 increased 440% to S$10.7 million on a 10.6% increase in sales to $137.3 million.

The company said it will pay a final dividend of $0.01 a share, and a special dividend of $0.005 a share. Total payout for the year is $0.025, including an interim $0.01 dividend already paid out.

Frasers Centrepoint said it raised $177.8 million after private placement at $1.33 per share.

News Updates

1. Japan's Nikkei stock average edged down 0.7% to a five-week closing low on Wednesday, with exporters slipping on a stronger yen and investors wary ahead of a Federal Reserve policy announcement and President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.
2. Spanish banking giant BBVA reported a 94% drop in net profit for the fourth quarter to 31 million euros ($43.5 million), against 519 million euros in the year ago period.
3. Canon Inc. reported a 4Q net profit that beat market expectations on strong demand for digital cameras, and said it expects to see a climb in net profits for 2010.
4. NEC Electronics Corp. said Wednesday its net loss for the October-December quarter narrowed to 14.3 billion yen.

In Summary

The STI started going down from 15:00 onwards. Eventually, market dropped 34.07 points to close at 2706.26, with 2.5031 billion traded. Losers led gainers 413 to 144.