singapore stocks end a range bound session with a small gain 372912015

Singapore shares represented by the Straits Times Index spent Tuesday in lack lustre and mostly sideways trading. The index was unable to surpass the 3,420 level even after several attempts in the opening hour of trade, and it fell to a low of 3,408.40 by 12:30 and was range-bound thereafter. One positive factor was the improving market breadth as gainers exceeded the number of losing stocks.

Indices and sectors

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 3.13 points higher or +0.09 per cent to 3,413.26, taking the year-to-date performance to +1.43 per cent. The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index gained +0.43 per cent, while the FTSE ST Small Cap Index gained +0.42 per cent.

The Singapore Exchange traded a volume of 1,053.3 million shares valued at SG$1,018.3 million. Gainers outnumbered losers by 239/173.

Amongst the FTSE ST sectors, the biggest gainers were basic materials (+3.15 per cent), healthcare (+1.96 per cent), CataList (+1.05 per cent) and technology (+0.94 per cent). The only two losing sectors were industrials (-0.20 per cent) and consumer services (-0.10 per cent).

Stocks

Genting Singapore PLC (SGX:G13) closed lower by 1.05 per cent to SG$0.940. The company said that its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary Resorts World at Sentosa (RWS) has arranged syndicated senior secured credit facilities worth SG$2.27 billion. The company informed the Singapore exchange that these new financing facilities would enable RWS to extend the tenure of its existing financing facilities to 2020 at enhanced repayment terms.

SIIC Environment Hldg Ltd (SGX:5GB) announced yesterday that it had entered into a sale and purchase agreement to acquire Global Envirotech Investment, an investment holding company in the British Virgin Islands that owns Global Environment Investment (HK), which in turn owns 92.15 per cent of water treatment management firm Fudan Water Engineering and Technology Co. The acquisition allows SIIC to expand its capacity by acquiring a business in the same industry as well as to increase its geographical footprint.

United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX:U11) will take subsidiary Far Eastern Bank (FEB) private by acquiring all of the shares that it does not already own in FEB, a public unlisted company incorporated in Singapore which offers commercial banking and financial services. United Overseas Bank will pay SG$3.51 per share of FEB, making a total of SG$74.15 million. It already owns 78.88 per cent of FEB.

Valuemax Group Ltd (SGX:T6I) announced on Tuesday that it will commence a new business activity in unsecured moneylending. "The new business is complementary to the existing businesses and skill sets of the group, and is in line with the group's strategy to expand into the provision of alternative forms of debtor financing services," it said in an announcement to the Singapore Exchange, according to the Business Times.

Sino Construction Limited (SGX:F3V) reported a SG$7 million net loss for the latest quarter ended December 31, compared to a SG$2.18 million net gain in the prior year period, while group revenue was SG$1.12 million. The loss per share was 0.53 cents versus 0.17 cents last year, according to the Business Times.

Economic news, currency and insight

The Chinese preliminary Purchasing Managers' Index from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics for March was at 49.2, missing the median estimate of 50.5 in a Bloomberg survey and down from February's 50.7, according to Straits Times. This gauge of manufacturing activity is now at an 11-month low, boosting expectations of more stimulus measures by the Chinese government. "Activity growth slowed in the first quarter," said Tim Condon, head of Asia research at ING Groep NV in Singapore. "If the official PMI also slides, it will reinforce that further policy stimulus will be needed to hit the 7 percent GDP growth target."

The three months Singapore Interbank Offered Rate, more popularly known as SIBOR, surged higher to 1.00129 per cent yesterday, the highest since December 2008. The SIBOR has now risen over 23 per cent since March 6, the date when the US reported stronger than expected payroll data, triggering expectations that rate hikes were round the corner. Since a number of variable rate mortgages are tied to the SIBOR, any rise or fall in the rate has implications for repayments by borrowers.

Stocks on Wall Street closed lower for the second day running as investors focused on a rate hike and corporates fretted about the strength in the US dollar. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 104.9 points, or 0.58 percent, to 18,011.14, the S&P 500 lost 12.92 points, or 0.61 percent, to 2,091.5 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 16.25 points, or 0.32 percent, to 4,994.73.