MARKET UPDATE - May 2011

26 May, 10.40am:
(my blog was freezed for 10 days due to traveling)

*Global: overall still concern with US recovery slow down and debts in Europe, gold resume uptrend as USD surge subsides; HK market likely to be range trading above 22000 till end of May.
Last week:
-sold some GARw @.175 w/ gain of >10%
This week:
- closed NOL s-pos on Mon w/ slight gain; yest added some GARw @.155
*Watching:
- (HK) PetroChina, JiangxiCop, SJM, ..; (SP) F&N, GARw, CWT, ...
*The following extracted from Reuters:
Singapore stocks may start higher on Thursday on the back of Wall Street's overnight rebound and firmer commodity prices, US indices up 0.3 - 0.5%. Gold sets 3-wk high on option expiry, euro zone debt; Oil hits 2-week high on US distillate draw, dollar.
Stocks and factors to watch: -
- Singapore Airlines - released plans to enter the long-haul budget carrier market by setting up a new subsidiary which is expected to compete with AirAsia X.
- CAPITALAND - has emerged as the top bidder at S$967 million ($775 million) for a site in Jurong in the western part of the city state, according to CBRE Research.
- Singapore's Mapletree Logistics Trust (MIT) - said on Wednesday it will buy KPPC Pyeongtaek Centre, a warehouse facility in South Korea.

18 May (10.30am SP):
*Global:
- DJI (-.55%) & FTSE (-60) down on slow recovery and economic concern but Nasdaq up;
- metals (Gold ~1490) and commodities (coffee, rubber, ..) mostly up, palm oil unch
- Lidya oil minister deflects
*Regional/local:
- STI, HSI, SSE up on opening.
- CLSA says to watch Baidu & Tencents on Internet growth
- economist says China may see more hikes this year
*Watching:
(-) NOL, F&N
(+) GAR, OCBC, FirstRes
SJM: tricky path up, up movement followed by 2 down bars, then a final gap up b4 te +ve result announcement (even thgh missed te trade but it's an eye opener watch)

17 May:

*Global:

• The main Wall Street indexes fell between 0.4 percent and 1.6 percent, with tech stocks leading the decline as investors sold winners in a sign of growing unease with pockets of U.S. economic weakness.

• Dow-47, slide on Greek debt concern, Gold ~1490, Silver ~33, Palm Oil 3255 +60, FTSE -2

*Regional/local:

• HSBC posted 8% rise on 1Q revenue, hiring 2000 workers in S'pore and China.

• HKG to watch: (+) Galaxy (#27), Sa Sa(#178), SJM(#880), Real Gold(#246)
  
• Vesak Day holiday in S'pore, USD-SGD unch.

16 May:
*Global: Dow -100 on Fri, both Gold and oil lower; concern with US economy and Euro issues
*Local: This morn NOL lower on poorer Q1 results
*Last week: sold Osim@1.73, F&N@6.25, and Smartone(#315) @13.0 on PP
*This week: sold SCMP #583 (1.98) on PP
*Monitoring:
(+) Sa Sa(#178), SJM(#880), Real Gold(#246); (-) NOL

09-05-2011 08:33:23
SINGAPORE, May 9 (Reuters) - Unprecedented opposition gains in Singapore's weekend election, despite the ruling party remaining firmly in power, may affect investors' sentiment on the Singapore stock exchange on Monday, though strong U.S. jobs data may still provide a boost.

Singapore-listed Cosco Corp may also be in the spotlight after reporting a 53 percent year-on-year rise in first quarter net profit, due to greater efficiencies and contribution from its shipbuilding and marine engineering projects.
--MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2356 GMT ---- INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1340.2 0.38% 5.100 USD/JPY 80.81 0.16% 0.130
10-YR US TSY YLD 3.1477 -- 0.000 SPOT GOLD 1493.43 -0.04% -0.620 US CRUDE 98.6 1.46% 1.420 DOW JONES 12638.74 0.43% 54.57 ASIA ADRS 139.94 0.83% 1.15 -------------------------------------------------------------
*Jobs report helps Wall St salvage sour week. Greece report sparks U.S. bond short covering . Euro posts worst week since January; prospects dim
* Silver rise ends five-day rout, gold up on US jobs. US crude up over $1, rebounds from record weekly fall
Stocks and factors to watch: -
- OLAM INTERNATIONAL - the commodities firm Olam said on Monday it plans to set up its own almond processing facility in Victoria, Australia, with a capacity to hull or shell as well as process 40,000 tonnes of almond kernels for up to A$55 million ($58.8 million).
- WILMAR INTERNATIONAL - said on Monday it had agreed with New Britain Palm Oil to supply continental Europe with palm oil, which will be available from Wilmar's refinery in Brake, Germany.
- SINGAPORE EXCHANGE - will offer rubber futures starting May 16, moving the contracts over from the Singapore Commodities Market platform to give it greater liquidity, the bourse operator announced on Friday.
- China Minzhong, a Singapore-listed Chinese vegetable producer, said on Monday its third quarter net profit rose 93 percent year-on-year to 261.1 million yuan ($40.2 million) on strong demand for vegetables.
- Straits Times Index fell 0.33 percent on Friday to 3,099.52 points.

07 May 2011 (The Edge)

Whatever the outcome of the elections, however, investors ought not to lose sight of the micro fundamentals of individual companies. Indeed, with a slew of results of large cap companies like SingTel, Wilmar International, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, Genting Singapore and Singapore Airlines scheduled for release in the week ahead, the market might not dwell on the issue of politics for much longer.

Friday, 06 May 2011 18:05 (Bloomberg)

Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.3% to 3,099.52 at the close. The gauge dropped 2.5% this week, its worst weekly performance since the period ended March 18. About three stocks dropped for every two that rose in the benchmark index of 30 companies.

Shares on the measure trade at an average 14.2 times estimated earnings, compared with about 15.6 times at the end of 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The following shares were among the most active in the market.

Transport companies: Shipping and airline companies gained as oil fell for a fifth day, heading for its biggest weekly decline since December 2008 after reports indicated economic weakness in the U.S. and Europe.
Neptune Orient Lines (NOL SP), Southeast Asia’s biggest container carrier, advanced 1.7% to $1.84. Singapore Airlines (SIA SP), the world’s second-largest airline by market value, increased 2.6% to $14.38. Tiger Airways Holdings (TGR SP), the low-cost carrier partly owned by Singapore Air, gained 2.7% to $1.53.

China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corp. (CAO SP), the nation’s biggest supplier of jet fuel, rose 0.8% to $1.30. The company said first-quarter net income increased 67% from a year earlier to US$21.5 million ($26.6 million).

Hyflux (HYF SP), Singapore’s biggest water-treatment company, jumped 4% to $2.06. The company said first- quarter net income climbed 15% from a year earlier to $7.4 million.

Kim Eng Holdings (KEH SP), a Singapore-based brokerage, added 0.3% to $3.08. Malayan Banking (MAY MK), Malaysia’s biggest lender by assets, said it will offer $3.10 for the rest of Kim Eng that it doesn’t own. Maybank agreed in January to buy a 44.6% stake in Kim Eng from Taiwan’s Yuanta Securities Asia Financial Services and Kim Eng Chairman Ronald Ooi at the same price.

United Overseas Bank (UOB SP), Singapore’s third- largest lender by market value, fell 1.6% to $18.80. The bank reported first-quarter net profit was $612 million. That compares with $612.2 million average estimate by five analysts compiled by Bloomberg.

04-05-2011 08:37:46 (Reuters)
Singapore shares may see a weak start on Wednesday after Wall Street indices ended mostly lower overnight amid falling commodity prices and fears that U.S. corporate earnings will not live up to expectations.

Genting Singapore may be in focus after rival Las Vegas Sands Corp reported lower-than-expected quarterly profit at its casino-resort in the city-state, Marina Bay Sands, sending shares of the company down 10 percent.

MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 0004 GMT ------------ INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 <.SPX> 1356.62 -0.34% -4.600 DOW JONES <.DJI> 12807.51 0.00% 0.15

USD/JPY 81.02 0.09% 0.070 10-YR US TSY YLD 3.2529 -- 0.002

SPOT GOLD 1536.25 -0.27% -4.130 US CRUDE 110.84 -0.19% -0.210

ASIA ADRS <.BKAS>; 141.44 -1.04% -1.49 -------------------------------------------------------------

* Wall St falls as earnings fears threaten rally [.N]; Bonds gain on safety buying, supply expectations [US/]; Euro flat but trend still positive despite Portugal [USD/] * Silver slides again on margin hike, gold falls [GOL/] *Oil falls as India, dollar spark sell-off

Stocks and factors to watch: -

- NEPTUNE ORIENT LINES - the world's seventh largest container shipping firm, said on Tuesday it carried 12 percent more cargo in the four weeks to April 8 from a year ago, helped by higher traffic on intra-Asia and Asia-Europe routes.

- WING TAI HOLDINGS - said its third quarter net profit more than doubled to S$59.5 million from S$23.2 million a year ago, helped by higher sales from its residential units.

- PACIFIC ANDES RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT - the frozen fish supplier said on Tuesday it has applied to the Taiwan stock exchange and the central bank to issue Taiwan depository receipts (TDR). It expects to issue about 228 to 285 million TDRs at T$18 each.

- YAMADA GREEN RESOURCES - said its net profit rose 17.6 percent in the first quarter to 63.1 million yuan ($9,712,352.000)compared to the year-ago period, helped by higher orders for processed food products and mushrooms.

- HI-P INTERNATIONAL - said it swung to a net profit of S$17.9 million in the first quarter, compared to a loss of S$14.2 million a year ago, due to higher sales from projects.

- Straits Times Index fell 0.83 percent to 3,153.57 points on Tuesday.

- The Dow Jones industrial average; was largely flat at 12,807.51. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index; dipped 0.34 percent at 1,356.62. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.78 percent at 2,841.62.

May 1 (Mon) - Labor Day Holiday