SG Market (22 Aug 12)

SG Market: S’pore shares appear to be in a holding pattern with some downward bias pending fresh cues from Wall Street or Europe. Investors may slice some profit off and reduce risk exposure before the Fed and ECB meetings end Aug. The STI seems stuck in a rut, repeating bouncing off the 3050 level but failing to punch above 3080. Among stocks in focus, Keppel Corp may not react too much after signing a US$315m contract to build a accommodation semi-submersible for repeat customer Floatel Int’l as this merely a letter-of-intent announced in Mar. Wing Tai posted a 16% drop in 4Q profit to $140.5m, which still beat expectations but management foresees a growing possibility of a correction in S’pore property market. Civmec 4Q net profit came in at $8.4m vs $3.6m a year ago as revenue surged to $113.6m vs $25.4m yoy on strong demand in Western Australia's O&G sector. ARA Asset plans to carve out some of its Chinese property assets to raise up to US$640m Iin a Rmb PO by end-Oct. Temasek sold its 1.4% APB stake to Heineken.