Singapore Stock Market Updates On 17/08/10

Morning Highlights

Singapore market opens almost unchanged at 2933.39. On the other hand, Tokyo market is weak, again pressured by the yen’s strength. Sentiment in the region remained fragile as investors continued to fret about the pace of the global economic recovery.

U.S. data on Monday again disappointed, with a weak reading of a key housing index and a softer-than-expected reading from the New York Fed’s Empire State business conditions index.

Despite Wall Street uninspiring performance, index is able to hold on is a good sign. We’ll continue to stay on the sideline and observe further for market direction.

Watch Out For Economic News Today:

1. Singapore July Non-oil Domestic Exports (Singapore exports grew at a slower than expected pace in July as fewer electronics and pharmaceuticals were shipped. Compared to a year ago, July exports grew 18% after expanding 28.5% in June. Economists had expected 20.1% growth. Electronic shipments rose 26% in July from a year ago, after a 44% increase in June, and non-electronics grew 14% after rising 21% in the previous month . On a month-on-month basis, exports fell a third straight month, declining 3.9% in July from June, after contracting 0.1% in June from May.)
2. U.S July Housing Starts
3. U.S July Industrial Production
4. Hong Kong July Unemployment Rate

Corporate Announcements:

1. NOL finalized an order to build two new 10,700-TEU container ships for delivery in 2012.
2. NOLreported that its 4-week container volume rose 18% and its average revenue per FEU rose 39% from the same period a year ago.
3. Cosco’ssubsidiary has delivered a bulk carrier of 57,000 dwt to its European buyer.
4. Olam said it is in advanced stage of negotiation with the government of Gabon to develop a special economic zone at Nkok and plans to develop a palm oil plantation.
5. Olamsaid it will review NZ Farming Systems Uruguay’s (NZFSU) annual results before deciding on a future course of action on its NZ$0.55 for the company. The Uruguayan based Union Agriculture Group has placed a rival takeover offer for NZFSU at NZ0.60 per share.

News Updates:

1. Treasuries surged, sending 10-year yields to the lowest level in more than 16 months, and gold rose after reports showing weaker-than-forecast growth in New York manufacturing and Japan’s economy.
2. Japan’s economy grew 0.4% last quarter, less than the 2.3% rate projected in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
3. A Fed gauge of the New York region’s manufacturing expanded less than forecast in August as orders and sales fell.

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 15:05 (Singapore Time)

Afternoon Highlights

Index is going through sideway consolidations..

News Updates:

1. India, which has threatened to block some BlackBerry services over security worries, has formally asked mobile operators to ensure a monitoring system for the smartphone’s services by August 31.