Singapore Stock Market Updates On 13/08/10

Morning Highlights

Singapore stocks edged a little higher and trading in tight ranges as investors picked up stocks that had fallen recently. STI opened at 2928.59.

On the other hand, U.S. stocks fell for third straight session posting its biggest three-day slump since July, and oil dropped after American jobless claims unexpectedly rose, adding to evidence the economic recovery is weakening.

• Genting broke 1.31

Singapore market will continue to be choppy. Watch out for 2900! If market falls below this level, likely that we will witness more downside. Advise to stay on the sideline till further observation.

Watch Out For Economic News Today:

1. U.S. July CPI numbers
2. Euro-zone’s Q2 GDP numbers (GDP in the 16-nation euro zone expanded 1% in the 2Q compared to the first three months of the year, the European Union statistics agency Eurostat reported Friday)
3. Hong Kong’s Q2 GDP numbers (Hong Kong Q2 GDP Q/Q: 1.4% vs 1.9% and Y/Y: 6.5% v 6.3%, Prior month revised lower)

Corporate Announcements:

1. Genting announced net profit of $396.5 million in 2Q 10, compared to a net loss of $50.7mn same period last year.
2. Noble announced 65% year-on-year decline in 2Q10 net profit to $ 85.9 million.
3. Wilmar announced 15.4% year-on-year decline in 2Q10 net profit to US$ 344.5 million.
4. Prudential announced 40.7% year-on-year increase in 1H10 IFRS operating profit to GBP 968 million.
5. Sound Global announced that it entered into an investment agreement for a Build, Operate and Transfer project in Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province.
6. Cosco announced that its subsidiary has secured contracts valued over US$48 million to build 2 bulk carriers of 35,000 dwt each.

News Updates:

1. U.S. Initial jobless claims unexpectedly rose by 2,000 to 484,000 in the week ended Aug. 7, the highest level since mid February, the Labor Department said yesterday in Washington.
2. GMs Whitacre to leave CEO post in September
3. U.S. fixed-rate mortgages at record lows; average rate on benchmark 30-year loan is 4.44%.
4. Cisco’s 10% decline weighs on technology sector.
5. China Life and two other Chinese companies may not proceed with bids for stakes in American International Group’s Asian unit AIA ahead of the unit’s planned IPO, a newspaper reported on Friday.
6. Clothing and toys supplier Li & Fung Ltd. said Thursday it will acquire its sister company Integrated Distribution Services Group Ltd. for 7 billion Hong Kong dollars ($901 million); equivalent to HK$21 a share, or 0.585 of its own stock for IDS.

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)

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

Afternoon Highlights

Index traded higher…

1. Wheelock Properties reported a Q2 profit after tax of $83.5 million on Friday, close to triple the $28.9 million earned in the same quarter a year ago.
2. SC Global sees Q2 profit climb 5-fold to $40.4 million
3. German GDP rose 2.2% over the first three months of the year, the Federal Statistical Office Destatis reported on Friday.
4. European shares pulled back, with an early boost from European GDP data fading ahead of U.S. data due later in the session. Retailers were the worst performers, after supermarket group Delhaize, down 8.6%, cut its outlook.

In Summary,

STI closed up 12.93 points to 2939.97, with 2.5621 billion traded. Gainers led losers 308 to 193.

Genting has shown strong performance in today’s session. This could be due to the various houses upgrading Genting to overweight.

The trading volume for today is 2.5621 billion compared to 2.4678 billion traded in yesterday’s session. This could be a tell-tale sign that selling pressure has somewhat subsided.

By week, index shed 55.09 points, with 8.099 billion traded. This is considerably high volume for a short week.