the fall in chinese stock markets weighs on singapore shares 1071332015

The Singapore stock exchange fell again Tuesday on bearish regional cues following the sharp losses in Chinese stocks. The Shanghai Composite index plunged 6.1 per cent on investors’ fears that the government may soon withdraw support to the stock markets. Investors continued to fret about the impact of China’s yuan devaluation on Singapore’s manufacturing and export sectors.

Meanwhile, shares in the embattled Noble Group Limited (SGX:N21) continued in their downtrend and fell to an 11-year low.

Indices and sectors

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 17.7 points or 0.58 per cent lower at 3,049.65, taking the year-to-date performance to -9.38 per cent.

The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index declined 0.78 per cent, while the FTSE ST Small Cap Index declined 1.80 per cent.

The Singapore Exchange traded a volume of 1,534.4 million shares valued at SG$1,170.1 million. Losers outnumbered gainers by 354/111.

Amongst the FTSE ST sectors, the big losers included healthcare (-2.61 per cent), CataList index (-2.41 per cent), basic materials (-2.29 per cent), oil and gas (-2.26 per cent), industrials (-1.53 per cent), China top index (-1.29 per cent) and China (-0.93 per cent). The gaining sectors were technology (+3.80 per cent), maritime (+0.55 per cent) and telecommunications (+0.38 per cent).

Stocks

According to Channel News Asia, ST Telemedia, a Temasek linked company has invested an undisclosed amount in US firm Datameer, and was the lead investor in that company’s recent US$40 million (SG$56.15 million) round of financing. The investment marks ST Telemedia’s first venture into the big data analytics market.

Keppel Land said it had topped off its latest commercial project at the International Financial Centre Jakarta Tower Two, the city’s Central Business District, on Tuesday (August 18). The tower is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2016 and will offer 50,200 square metres of Grade A office space. According to Keppel Land Ltd (SGX:K17) has already won tenants such as Tokio Marine, Servcorp, Grant Thornton, Rintis and Ithaca Resources.

The Securities Investors Association of Singapore (SIAS) has expressed concern on the “unusual trading activity” in the shares in CEFC International Ltd (SGX:Y35), a company which was slapped with a “trade with caution” notice by the Singapore Exchange on July 21, reports the Straits Times. SIAS noted that the stock rose from 2.5 cents on July 7 to as high as 40.5 cents on August 14 with no visible change in the fundamentals of the company’s business. Recently, the Singapore Exchange informed investors that 40 per cent of the recent buying in the stock was concentrated amongst a small number of offshore accounts. CEFC said Tuesday that discussions on potential joint ventures were still ongoing, according to the Business Times.

Investors failed to appreciate the latest efforts from Noble Group Limited (SGX:N21) to prop up shareholder confidence and sold off the stock, which fell nearly 9 per cent to SG$0.42, an 11-year low.

Economic news

According to figures released by the Singapore Tourism Board, monthly tourism arrivals to Singapore in May rose 1.1 per cent from a year ago to 1.22 million visitors. This was the first time after six months of year-on-year declines that tourism arrivals registered positive growth, and was led largely by an increase in the number of Chinese and Indian tourists, according to TODAY.

In a written reply to a parliamentary question on Monday (August 17), Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say said the Jobs Bank portal had featured an average of 68,000 job vacancies a week since its launch in July 2014. About 50,000 jobs were for professionals, managers, executives and technicians, he said, according to Channel News Asia. Under the Fair Considerations Framework (FCF) introduced on Aug 1, employers are required to advertise their job vacancies on the Jobs Bank for at least 14 days before they can submit applications for Employment Passes (EP), Mr. Lim clarified.

On Wall Street on Tuesday, stocks fell following a mixed bunch of earnings reports from retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT), which slumped 3.4 per cent after trimming its profit outlook, according to Channel News Asia. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 33.84 points (0.19 per cent) at 17,511.34. The broad-based S&P 500 shed 5.52 points (0.26 per cent) at 2,096.92, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 32.35 points (0.64 per cent) to 5,059.35.