Singapore Stock Picks And Guide

2019-06-03 07:34:40 Singapore stocks slipped when trading began on Monday (June 3), along with other Asian markets, amid escalating trade-war angst from US moves against Mexico and India, as well as China's retaliation against American measures.

The Straits Times Index headed down 0.23 per cent or 7.26 points to 3,110.50 as at 9.03am on Monday.

Losers outnumbers gainers 203 to 125, after 831.18 million securities worth $1.12 billion changed hands. Among the most heavily traded by volume, QT Vascular was flat at 0.3 cent with 7.72 million shares changing hands. Golden Agri-Resources fell 0.5 cent or 1.89 per cent to $0.26 with 6.02 million shares traded. Singtel was trading down two cents or 0.63 per cent at $3.18 on a cum-dividend basis, with 2.31 million shares traded.

Banking stocks slumped on Monday's open. DBS was down 18 cents or 0.74 per cent to $24.11, UOB lost four cents or 0.17 per cent to $23.46, while OCBC Bank fell one cent or 0.1 per cent to $10.56.

Other active index stocks included Ascendas Reit which headed down one cent or 0.34 per cent to $2.91, and Genting Singapore which slipped 0.5 cent or 0.58 per cent to 86.5 cents.

Indofood Agri Resources (IndoAgri) gained 5.5 cents or 20 per cent to $0.33 on Monday's open, after Indonesian instant noodle heavyweight Indofood Sukses Makmur raised its buyout offer price for IndoAgri to 32.75 cents on Sunday.

CapitaLand rose one cent or 0.31 per cent to $3.23, while CapitaLand Mall Trust (CMT) also moved up one cent or 0.42 per cent to $2.42. CapitaLand and CMT had on Monday morning announced that Funan had achieved 92 per cent in commitment for retail leasing as well as 98 per cent in pre-leasing commitment for its twin office blocks. CapitaLand and City Developments Limited also confirmed their $400 million acquisition of Liang Court mall on Friday, in a statement to The Business Times.

Meanwhile, in the US, stock-index futures slid on Sunday after China's government blamed the US for the latest collapse in trade talks. Contracts on the S&P 500 Index lost as much as 0.7 per cent after Beijing released a white paper on Sunday saying the escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies has not "made America great again".

Wall Street had earlier sank on Friday after US President Donald Trump threatened to place escalating tariffs on Mexico, with US stocks capping their first monthly decline since last December's market rout. The S&P 500 Index fell 1.3 per cent on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded its sixth weekly loss, the longest slump since 2011.

In Asia, Tokyo slumped on Monday's open following end of the week losses on Wall Street with a stronger yen also weighing on the market, while losses were more modest in South Korea and Australia.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 1.42 per cent or 292.4 points to 20,308.76 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 1.38 per cent or 20.9 points at 1,491.38.

South Korea's Kospi index dropped 0.4 per cent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 0.3 per cent.

India became the latest country to be targeted by the Trump administration Friday evening, eliminating the country's eligibility to export a number of products to the US duty-free. Open / Comment

2019-06-01 07:20:05 Open / Comment

2019-05-31 07:30:07 Singapore stocks opened sharply weaker on Friday (May 31) after US President Donald Trump opened a new front in the trade war by announcing plans to impose a 5 per cent tariff on all imported goods from Mexico beginning June 10.

Mr Trump tweeted the tax would "gradually increase" until Mexico stopped the flow of illegal immigrants across the border.

The Straits Times Index dropped one per cent or 31.51 points to 3,111.49 at 9.04am. The benchmark recovered some rgound soon after and was trading down 20.24 points or 0.6 per cent at 3,122.76 at 9:30am.

On the Singapore bourse at 9:04am, losers outnumbered gainers 97 to 35, or about 11 securities down for every four up, after 60.3 million securities worth $170.5 million changed hands.

Among the most heavily traded by volume, Singtel headed down 0.9 per cent or $0.03 to $3.17 with 5.5 million shares traded. Genting Singapore shed 0.6 per cent or $0.005 to $0.87 with 3.5 million shares traded.

Singapore banking stocks also opened lower, with DBS Group Holdings down 1.1 per cent or $0.27 to $24.33; United Overseas Bank fell 0.8 per cent or $0.19 to $23.70; and OCBC Bank was down 1.4 per cent or $0.15 to $10.59.

In the region, Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index slid 0.79 per cent, or 164.66 points, at 20,777.87 in early trade, while the Topix index was down 0.77 per cent, or 11.72 points, at 1,520.26. Shares in automakers with Mexico plants dropped sharply.

Overnight, US and Europe markets rose, with Wall Street stocks seeing modest gains on Thursday after two straight declines, even as petroleum-linked shares tumbled with oil prices, according to AFP.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average mustered a 0.2 per cent gain, rising to 25,169.88, while the S&P 500 added 0.2 per cent at 2,788.86. The Nasdaq Composite Index meanwhile rose 0.3 per cent to 7,567.72.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 gained 0.4 per cent on the day, with media firms' shares rising 1.8 per cent, while Germany's DAX rose 0.5 per cent. Spanish stocks meanwhile rose 0.9 per cent. Open / Comment

2019-05-31 07:13:25 Open / Comment

2019-05-29 08:10:37 Singapore shares on Wednesday (May 29) followed slides in the US and Europe markets overnight, with with the Straits Times Index opening down 15.91 points or 0.5 per cent to 3,149.41 as at 9.05am.

About 55.7 million shares worth $145.2 million changed hands, which worked out to an average unit price of $2.61 per share.

Losers outnumbered gainers 81 to 36.

The most actively traded stock was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings, which rose two cents or 1.45 per cent to $1.40 with 6.6 million shares changing hands. Other actives included Oceanus, which is on the Singapore Exchange's watch list, and Asian Pay Television Trust.

Among financials, DBS Group Holdings declined $0.10 or 0.4 per cent to $24.86; OCBC Bank shares lost $0.09 or 0.8 per cent at $10.85, and United Overseas Bank declined $0.20 or 0.8 per cent to $24.11.

Among other index stocks, Singtel was trading flat at $3.15 with about 3.5 million shares changing hands. Meanwhile, about 2.6 million CapitaMall Trust units traded unchanged at $2.43.

In New York last night, the S&P 500 index lost 0.8 per cent while Europe's Stoxx 600 index fell 0.2 per cent, led by European banks shedding 0.4 per cent due to a possible fine related to Italy's huge budget deficit and subsequent risk sentiment.

Other Asian indexes in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia also fell in morning trading sessions. Open / Comment

2019-05-29 07:32:05 Open / Comment

2019-05-28 07:41:40 Singapore shares inched lower on Tuesday (May 28), with the Straits Times Index retreating 2.37 points, or 0.07 per cent to 3,168.40 as at 9.02am.

Gainers and losers were roughly evenly matched at 46 to 45, after about 19.2 million securities worth $23.1 million exchanged hands.

Among the most heavily traded counters by volume, Mapletree Logistics Trust gained 0.7 per cent, or one cent to $1.50, with 3.6 million shares traded; while CapitaLand Retail China Trust was flat at $1.50, with two million shares traded.

Other active stocks included Thai Bev which lost 1.2 per cent, or one cent to $0.795, and SGX which was down 1.1 per cent or eight cents to $7.54.

Separately, Asian equities chalked modest gains by the opening bell, after a muted session on Monday that saw trading volumes well off typical levels due to market closures in the US and the UK. Benchmark indices in Japan, Australia and South Korea added 0.2 per cent as at 9.06am in Tokyo.

US markets were closed overnight due to the Memorial Day holiday, while the London stock exchange was closed for its Spring Bank holiday.

In addition, US President Donald Trump's declaration Monday that the US was "not ready" to reach a trade deal with China had little impact on Asian markets, with the yuan continuing to stabilize in the wake of losses earlier this month, data from Bloomberg shows.

Elsewhere, shares in Europe ticked higher overnight as investors were broadly relieved by initial results from the parliamentary elections that suggested pro-European Union parties had held their ground. Open / Comment

2019-05-28 07:30:37 Open / Comment

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2019-05-27 07:30:33 Singapore stocks started the week on lower ground, with the Straits Times Index down 0.87 point or 0.03 per cent to 3169.02 as at 9.02am on Monday (May 27).

About 29.6 million securities worth $34.8 million changed hands.

Gainers outnumbers losers 57 to 50.

Among the most heavily traded by volume, Nico Steel was flat at 0.4 cent with 10.2 million shares traded. Yangzijiang Shipbuilding rose 0.73 per cent or one cent to $1.38 with 1.5 million shares traded. Sembcorp Marine fell 0.68 per cent or one cent to $1.46 with 1.2 million shares traded.

Active index stocks included CapitaLand, up 0.61 per cent or two cents to $3.30; and CapitaMall Trust, down 0.82 per cent or two cents to $2.42.

CapitaLand said on Monday morning before the market opened that it is setting up a new executive committee to provide strategic business planning, organisational alignment and implementation it reorganises following its Ascendas-Singbridge acquisition.

Eagle Hospitality Trust, which debuted on the Singapore bourse on Friday, continued to slump from its initial public offering (IPO) price of U$0.78. Its stapled securities were trading at U$0.725 at Monday's open, down 0.69 per cent or 0.5 US cent from Friday's close.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei index edged up at the open on Monday as investors awaited US-Japan summit talks later on the day. The Nikkei 225 index was up 0.03 per cent, or 5.97 points, at 21,123.19 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 0.04 per cent, or 0.66 point, at 1,540.55.

This week, all eyes will be on data releases in Asia for clues on growth prospects ahead.

China will release industrial profits for April on Monday. Regional investors will also be looking to May's purchasing managers' index (PMI) surveys.

Singapore will see a relatively quiet data week, with its April bank lending and money supply data out on Friday.

In Japan, the end of the month also brings the usual deluge of economic data releases, including April's unemployment rate, and May data releases on inflation rate, retail sales and industrial production.

Other key Asian data that will be out include Q1 gross domestic product in India and Thailand's April trade figures.

The Bank of Korea also has a monetary policy decision this Friday.

US markets will be closed on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday. Open / Comment