SG Market (24 Jun 14)

US Market: US shares ends flat, halting a six-day rally, amid mixed global economic data as investors kept watch over the conflict in major oil producer Iraq. The DJIA retreated 10 pts to 16,937 (-0.06%), while the S&P 500 was little changed at 1,963 (-0.01%) and the Nasdaq barely budge 0.6 pt to 4,369 (+0.01%). In a contrast of fortunes, the HSBC flash manufacturing PMI for China rose to 50.8 in Jun, its highest level since Nov but Markit composite PMI for eurozone slipped to 52.8 from 53.5 in May, its weakest level since Dec. In the US, existing home sales climbed 4.9% in May to an annual rate of 4.89m units, the most since Oct but the price increase was at the slowest pace in more than two years. A separate Markit report showed manufacturing growth rose to 57.5 in Jun from 56.4 in May. Oil prices dipped 0.6% as investors came to grasp that the unrest in Iraq has yet to disrupt supplies. But the situation remained fluid with government forces regaining control of the border crossings into Syria and Jordon while Sunni insurgents advanced towards Bagdad. In corporate news, Dow component General Electric fell 1.1% after it agreed to buy the energy business of French company Alstom for US$16.8b, while software giant Oracle was up 0.7% after offering to buy rival Micros Systems (+3.4%) for US$5.3b in a bid to expand its data presence in the hotel and restaurant sectors. S’pore shares may open relatively flat today following the muted close on Wall Street, with the 50-day moving average on the STI offering near term resistance at 3,265 with support at 3,220. Short term technicals indicators are still exhibiting signs of weakness while dipping into oversold territory. Stocks to watch: *Yoma: Parent SPA is offering the first right of refusal to acquire the economic benefit of 80% of the 250-acre land in Pun Hlaing Golf Estate for US$70m. Once approved, Yoma intends to revise its proposed 1-for-8 rights issue into a 1-for-3 rights issue with the rights price remaining at $0.38. *Olam: Mitsubishi Corp is investing US$64m for an 80% stake in its wholly owned Grains Australia. Olam will retain the remaining 20% in the unit, which is engaged mainly in origination, trading, logistics and marketing activities and holds a 32.5% stake in Newcastle Agri Terminal. *KS Energy: Awarded a US$199.2m contract to Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry Co for construction of one newbuild jack-up drilling rig with option for an additional rig. Delivery of the rig is expected within 27 months. *Soilbuild Construction: Secured $38.6m contract to build a global distribution centre for Germany’s Pepperl+Fuchs, a leading developer and manufacturer of electronic sensors and intrinsic safety components for the global automation market. Construction of the five-storey industrial building at Pioneer Turn will commence this month and is expected to be completed by 3Q15. This contract brings the group's order book to $531.5m. *United Envirotech: Its wholly owned M’sian subsidiary has secured a RM45m engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build a sewer network in Johor Bahru. The project is expected to be completed by end '15. *Captii (formerly Unifed Communications): Terminated its proposed investment in Express In Music, as the parties could not come to agreement on the terms of agreement. *Karin: Signed a distributorship agreement with CA Technologies in Hong Kong for the provision of Infrastructure Management, Application Performance Management, and Security and Application Delivery solutions. *SinoTel: Issued “Trade with Caution” notice by SGX, following company’s failure to explain any reason for its 24.1% share price surge on 23 Jun. *Hu An Cable: Chairman and CEO Dai Zhi Xiang snapped up 6.1m shares, raising his stake from 17.0% to 17.6%.