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Soft leads make muted trading session

This article is more than 12 months old

Fresh round of earnings reports could put some pep in the Singapore market

Local equities were subdued yesterday, with the bourse seeing a churn of 1.57 billion shares for a value of just $1.14 billion.

The benchmark Straits Times Index oscillated around a one-day average of 3,576.78, before closing almost flat at 3,579.54 - a gain of 6.16 points, or 0.17 per cent.

DBS chief economist Taimur Baig seemed to pick up on an "every man for himself" mood in Washington.

In the wake of recent International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group's spring meetings, he wrote: "With the US pushing aggressively on trade, currency regimes, fiscal policy, immigration and deregulation, the rest of the world appears to be largely in reaction mode, for better or for worse."

Sembcorp Industries shed $0.02, or 0.62 per cent, to $3.22.

Phillip Capital has pegged sentiment on the counter as "bullish".

"The recent price action signals a possible move back into the uptrend again after price broke and closed significantly above the $3.18 range high," it said in a note.

"Expect price to head higher next to test the $3.38 resistance area, followed by $3.60."

OPTIMISM

Keppel Corporation and the Singapore Exchange (SGX) both saw an injection of optimism after announcing quarterly results last week.

KGI Securities analyst Joel Ng said on Monday that Keppel has an "attractive long-term growth story".

"We believe valuations are undemanding given the recovery in the oil and gas sector and continued strength from its property developments," he said. "Furthermore, downside may be limited on the back of its 15-year historical low valuations."

Keppel, which is in talks to take on floating liquefied natural gas projects in Africa's Tortue gas field, added $0.08, or 0.97 per cent, to $8.29.

And SGX gained $0.14, or 1.85 per cent, to finish at $7.70.

Electronics services provider Venture Corporation, which crashed by more than 12 per cent last Friday, made a weak recovery as the new week began.

The index stock closed up by $0.28, or 1.11 per cent, at $25.57.

Venture is thought to be the manufacturer for Philip Morris' IQOS electronic cigarette, and its price took a tumble after barriers to IQOS sales in the key Japanese market.

CGS-CIMB analyst William Tng estimates that Philip Morris could have made up at least 7 per cent of FY2017 turnover.

Venture's first-quarter results are due on Wednesday.

Off the index, Ezion Holdings maintained a heavy volume of trade, topping the actives list with a turnover of 65.95 million shares.

The embattled offshore and marine services company, which escaped a months-long trading suspension last week, was down by 0.3 Singapore cent, or 1.73 per cent, to $0.17.

NGSC, formerly Next Generation Satellite Communications, was second-most heavily traded on 28.72 million shares.

It had asked last Friday for more time to apply for removal from the bourse watch-list.

The company, which held an Ernst & Young probe over internal control failures and "significant questionable transactions and cash transactions", closed flat at 0.1 Singapore cent.

As for what the coming days hold, fans of the property boom may continue to reap payouts.

The SGX "My Gateway" investor portal noted that "earnings season will pick up a notch from last week, with a dozen Reits expected to report financials", including index trusts Ascendas Reit and CapitaLand Commercial Trust.

Still, other Asian indices closed lower yesterday as Apple's doubts on iPhone sales spooked suppliers.

The Hang Seng lost 0.54 per cent, the Nikkei 225 was down by 0.33 per cent, and the Kospi shed 0.09 per cent.