SingTel

SingTel: is down 0.6% at $3.13 in tepid volume, likely tracking market moves rather than reacting to a Nikkei report it will purchase around 30% of Taiwanese software firm General Mobile Technology, or G-Mobi, together with Mitsui & Co. (8031.TO). Mitsui and SingTel reportedly purchased 19% and 12% stakes respectively for several hundred million yen each. If the deal is confirmed, the investment, likely less than S$10 million, won't be financially significant for SingTel. But the deal could offer an incremental boost as G-Mobi's software, which adds functions to conventional mobile phones to make them more smartphone-like, would bolster the telco's strategy of increasing its content contribution as well as fitting in well with its emerging-market telecom assets. SingTel stock is likely to hover around current levels, both weighed by general market malaise and supported by its defensive status.