Sg market (04 Apr 14)

US shares fell Thursday. The S&P500 slipped 0.2% to close at 1,886 after chalking an intraday record high of 1,894 in the early session. The declines were led by tech, biotech and consumer stocks, as investors were hesitant to make big bets ahead of nonfarm payrolls data due Friday. Amongst the plays in focus, the global X Social Media ETF which includes the likes of Facebook, LinkedIn and Groupon fell 3.1%, while Barnes & Noble tumbled 14.7% after Liberty Media Corp announced its stake disposal in the company. In the region, the Nikkei and Kospi are down 0.2% and 0.1% respectively, this morning. Similarly, the S’pore market may open on a muted note, given the dearth of major corporate developments overnight. The penny stocks may continue to come under pressure, as the MAS and Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) extend the net of their corporate investigations beyond Asiasons Capital, Blumont and LionGold. Other firms brought into the limelight include: Innopac, Magnus Energy, ITE Electric, IPCO, ISR Capital and Annica. On the daily charts, the STI trend remains positive, with the key RSI and Stochastic indicators continuing to exhibit strong upward momentum. 3,240 (200day moving average peak in Oct ’13) offers near term resistance. Stocks to watch: *SGX: Securities trading declined 25% y/y to $23.9b in Mar, and ADTV fell 29% to $1.1b. Derivatives volume held steady at 9.5m contracts with a daily average of 463,811 contracts. In particular, iron ore futures volume nearly doubled m/m to 91,086 contracts in Mar. The volume of iron ore swaps rose 88% y/y while volume of cleared iron ore options was 14x higher than a year ago at 9,755 contracts. *Goodpack: Blackstone and Carlyle are reportedly considering a takeover bid for Goodpack. Management declined to comment, but reiterates that the company has been approached by parties in connection with a possible transaction, which may or may not lead to an offer for the company’s shares. *GLP: Signed a new lease agreement with one of the largest e-commerce companies in China. The customer is seeking to expand 25,000 sqm at GLP Park CDHT in Chengdu. *Grand Banks: To feature three new luxury yacht designs at the S’pore Yacht Show this coming 10-13 Apr amid growing buying interest from the region, particularly in S’pore and Japan. *XMH: Its subsidiary has been ordered by the S’pore High Court to pay $3.5m in damages to Pacific Marine & Shipbuilding for supplying defective marine propulsion units. The group will appeal the decision, but will make provisions that are expected to have a material impact on its FY14 financials.