SG Market (02 Jul 14)

US shares closed higher, buoyed by data which showed strength in manufacturing and better-than-expected sales for the major automakers. The DJIA (16,956, +0.8%) and S&P500 (1,973, +0.7%) each made new record closing highs, and the Nasdaq Composite (4,459, +1.1%) ended at a 14-year high. At one point, the DJIA pushed to just two points shy of the psychological 17,000 mark. According to data from Markit, final US Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index came in at 57.3 in Jun, the highest level since May ‘10, despite being lower than the preliminary reading of 57.5. Separately, US auto sales in Jun rose 1.2% versus an expected decline of 3%, clocking its highest level since Jul ’06. Amongst the sectors, tech stocks came back strongly into play. Video company Netflix jumped 7.4% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the counter to "Buy", while Twitter advanced 2.6% on news that a former Goldman Sachs executive would become the company’s new CFO. Video camera maker, GoPro surged 20%, extending its fifth straight day of gains since listing, doubling from its US$24 offer price. S’pore shares are expected to open higher, taking cue from the upbeat performance of the US overnight. The STI is currently trading at the bottom of its downtrend channel, and may be poised for a near term rebound. Resistance is at 3,285, and support at 3,220. Stocks to watch: *Keppel Corp: Secured contracts worth $368m in total, comprising i) a harsh-environment FPSO conversion deal for Bumi Armada, scheduled for delivery in 3Q15, and ii) an order to fabricate and outfit a subsea construction vessel for its 10%-owned Baku Shipyard. *Frasers Centrepoint: Agreed to make an off-market takeover offer for ASX-listed property firm Australand for A$2.6b. *Wee Hur: Makes the top bid of $76.9m ($73 psf ppr) for an industrial site at Woodlands, against expectations of a winning bid of between $80-100 psf ppr. The site, which can yield ~1m sf of space, can potentially be developed into 550-650 strata units. *BBR: Secured a $196m contract to construct the green Halls of Residence at Nanyang Technological University – the first public high-rise development in S’pore using pre-fabricated pre-finished volumetric modular construction system. The project is scheduled to be completed within 19 months. This brings BBR’s order book to ~$1b. *Jason Holdings: Awarded contracts amounting $5.7m for the supply and installation of flooring works for various buildings in Singapore and Malaysia. *Sunvic Chemical: Reported a minor fire incident that occurred last week at its Jiangsu Jurong Chemical factory in Yancheng City, affecting the production plant for acrylate esters. Management estimates the impact to FY14 revenue due to the fire will be less than 5%. *ISDN: Commenced construction of its mini-hydropower plant located in North Sumatra, with work expected to last 18-24 months. ISDN will invest US$10m in the project, but thereafter, the plant is expected to generate US$2m revenue p.a. for a tenure of 20 years. *Raffles Education: Purchased 450,000 shares at an average price of $0.345. In total, the company has accumulated 8.4m shares (0.82% of issued shares) in its recent share buyback transactions. *Jaya: Cash distribution of $0.16/share via capital reduction goes ex today