SG Market (28 Nov 13)

Market Roundup: US stocks extended their record breaking run in light trading led by a technology rally as upbeat employment and consumer confidence boosted optimism that growth can be sustained when the Fed starts easing its monetary stimulus. The US market will be closed for Thanksgiving holiday on Thu and open for half day on Fri. Economic data showed jobless claims fell 10,000 to 316,000 last week, fewer than the 330,000 expected, while the Thomson-Reuters/Univ of Michigan consumer sentiment index for Nov unexpectedly rose to 75.1 from 73.2 a month earlier. The Conference Board’s index of US leading indicators made a surprise 0.2% gain, rising for a 4th straight month in Oct. Bucking the trend was the 2% decline in Oct durable goods orders. Meanwhile, former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan weighed in on the market, declaring that US stock prices do not show signs of a bubble. Crude oil slipped 1.5% to US$92.30 per barrel on higher supplies, while gold headed for its first annual drop in 13 years, sliding 0.3% to US$1,238/oz. The S’pore market is expected to remain subdued with no clear conviction as investors switch to the Japanese market on BoJ's continued commitment to its massive asset-buying campaign even as tensions rise in the East China Sea following China’s unilateral declaration of an air defence identification zone and US latest challenge to it. The STI is likely to be pinned beneath the 20 and 50-day moving averages at around 3,190 with stiffer resistance at 3,232 and underlying support at 3,123 level. Stocks to watch: *Blumont/LionGold/Asiasons/Innopac/Ipco: Interactive Brokers is suing at least 10 clients to recover US$68m in losses from Oct's penny stock and has obtained court order to freeze assets of 8 clients, including certain directors/shareholders of Blumont, LionGold, Asiasons and Innopac. Assets were frozen for M’sian nationals Neo Kim Hock, Peter Chen Hing Woon, Tan Boon Kiat, Quah Su-Ling, Lee Chai Huat and Kuan Ah Ming and 2 BVI-registered companies, Sun Spirit Group and Neptune Capital. Neo is Blumont’s outgoing chairman and has>20% stake in Neptune, which holds 50m Blumont shares and 1.7% stake in LionGold. Quah holds 2.15% stake in Blumont and is CEO of Ipco Int’l, which holds a 9.7% stake in Blumont. Chen is LionGold’s director of business and corporate development and holds a 2.09% stake in Asiasons. MAS and SGX are currently reviewing the circumstances surrounding the trading of those stocks. *Mermaid Maritime: FY13 net profit soared almost 4-fold to US$15.7m (+391%) on revenue of US$269.6m (+47%), with bottomline buoyed partly by a 45% drop in finance costs to $5m and a US$4.4m contribution from associates. The strong performance came from Mermaid Offshore Services, which saw a 212% increase in operating profits to US$15.2m, while Subtech saw operating profits surge 216% to US$11.6m. A final plus special DPS of US0.86¢ was proposed. *Interra: Completed development well TMT-57 at the Tanjung Mining Timur field in South Sumatra, Indonesia, which achieved a flow rate of 650 bpd and commenced drilling TMT-58, the third of four development wells at the same reservoir. *RH Petrogas: Provided schedule of upcoming updates on its Indonesia production sharing contracts (PSC), with test results for Klagalo-1, Klalin-15 and Klalin-17 wells at Kepala Burung PSC expected in Dec. The group is also is targeting an approval of the overall development plan at Fuyu PSC in the same month. Next year, the group intends to announce its progress on exploration drilling of Koi-2 appraisal well at Selawati Kepala Burung PSC in Jan 14 and an approval of the North Klalin field development plan in Mar 14. *Sembcorp Industries: Issued $200m 3.64% fixed rate notes due 2024 under its $2b multicurrency MTN programme.