singapore stocks gained nearly 0 5 percent led by cyclical sectors 117432015

After a pause on Monday, Singapore stocks resumed their upward trend yesterday, gaining nearly 0.5 percent to clock the sixth gaining session out of the past seven.

Indices and sectors

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended Tuesday 13.68 points higher or +0.40 per cent to 3,412.2, taking the year-to-date performance to +1.40 per cent. The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index declined -0.07 per cent, while the FTSE ST Small Cap Index gained +0.45 per cent.

Amongst the FTSE ST sectors, the top gainers were fledgling (+1.64 per cent), industrials (+1.62 per cent), maritime (+1.53 per cent) and basic materials (+1.44 per cent). The top losers were real estate investment trusts (-0.82 per cent), China (-0.72 per cent), real estate (-0.68 per cent) and financials (-0.32 per cent).

The SGX traded 1,845.6 million shares valued SG$1490.8 million. Gainers outnumbered losers by 267/187.

Stocks

In the industrials sector Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd (SGX:J36) gained 3.83 per cent to SG$67.22, while Jardine Strategic Holdings Ltd (SGX:J37) was up 2.54 per cent to SG$36.70. According to the Business Times, the gains in the Jardine group helped push the STI up by 13.68 points.

JES International Holdings Limited (SGX:EG0) gained 2.70 per cent to SG$0.038 on news that the Chinese shipbuilder made a placement of 183 million new ordinary shares at SG$0.036 to Brilliant Choice International, an investment holding company, and Mr Sun Yiyi, raising SG$6.6 million.

UE E&C Ltd (SGX:NI3) said Tuesday that trading in its shares on the SGX may be suspended as their free float had fallen below 10 per cent, according to the Straits Times. It may be noted that private equity firm Southern Capital already controlled 81.15 per cent of the capital of the company as at 17:00 on Monday.

Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust (SGX:RW0U) announced a 9.5 per cent year-on-year increase in distributions per unit of 1.662 SG cents for the fiscal third quarter ended on December 31 2014, according to Business Times.

Starhill Global Real Estate Invmt Trust (SGX:P40U) was up 0.60 per cent to SG$0.85 after the REIT announced a 4.9 per cent increase in distributions per unit to 1.29 SG cents for the fourth quarter ended on December 31 2014, said The Business Times.

OUE Hospitality Trust (SGX:SK7) gained 1.08 per cent to SG$0.935 after it reported that distributable income for the December quarter amounted to SG$23.6 million, with distributions per unit rising to 1.78 SG cents. Gross revenue was up 4.8 per cent to SG$30.4 million while net property income jumped 5.5 per cent SG$27 million, according to TODAY.

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (SGX:Z74) and Ericsson (STO:ERIC-A) inked an agreement to collaborate on testing technologies for 5G networks and to explore the possible 5G applications to meet the needs of consumers and industries, reported Channel News Asia. "We see 5G as a potential technology that will support very advanced communication needs in the future," said Mr Tay Soo Meng, Group Chief Technology Officer at Singtel. "This MOU will be a five-year partnership and we will look at some exciting use cases like health, for driverless cars, for sports when you are playing football or basketball – you will be able to trace all your actions and you can look back and see the mistakes you have made. So these are some of the use cases that we are looking at," he added.

Economic news, currency and insight

Latest data from the Manpower Ministry for September 2014, released Tuesday, showed job vacancies in Singapore rose 8.9 per cent to 67,400 from 61,900 reported in the previous year, with about 80 per cent of the vacancies concentrated in the services industry, according to The Business Times.

Profits at Chinese industrial companies last month fell by the most in at least three years according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, Beijing. Industrial profits were down 8 per cent in December compared to a year earlier, reflecting the headwinds from a slowing economy and the slump in commodity prices, according to the Straits Times.

OPEC Secretary General Mr Abdalla El-Badri said in an interview in London on Monday that oil prices could surge to US$200 per barrel unless producers made investments to generate new supply, though he did not specify a timeframe. International benchmark Brent crude for March 2015 has been trending mostly flat over the past few trading sessions, ranging between US$47 and US$51 a barrel.

According to a Reuters report, the crash in oil prices has made it difficult for oil firms to refinance their debt. It said lenders and investors were hesitating to refinance Singapore oilfield services firms Ezra Holdings Ltd (SGX:5DN) and Swiber Holdings Ltd (SGX:AK3), which had bonds maturing later this year worth SG$200 million and SG$85 million respectively.

Singapore stocks may open weaker taking cues from overnight losses from Wall Street where major indices lost over 1 per cent due to disappointing earnings reports and the decline of 3.4 per cent in US durable goods orders during December.

According to City Index Chief Global Strategist Ashraf Laidi, the tumble in durable goods orders, taken with the recent flattening of the yield curve, imply that a 2015 Fed rate hike may not be at all feasible.

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