SG Market (20 Nov 14)

US Market: US stocks dipped lower as Fed minutes did little to move the market and gave no additional clarity as to when US interest rates would be hiked. The blue-chip DJIA slipped 2 pts to 17,686 (-0.01%), while the broad-based S&P 500 eased 3 pts to 2,049 (-0.2%) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 27 pts to 4,676 (-0.6%). The small cap Russell 2000 retreated 1.1%. Minutes of the latest FOMC meeting showed a divided view amongst policy makers over the outlook for inflation and the economy, with some wary about a possible downshift in longer term inflation expectations amid weaker outlook and increased downside risks in Europe, China and Japan. As such, markets were left clueless on where inflation and interest rates are heading, with some investors preferring to remain on the sidelines. In economic news, construction starts unexpectedly fell 2.8% in Oct, but permits surged to its highest level in six years. However, the headline number was slightly below forecast. Tech and telecom shares were amongst the biggest losers, with Yahoo down 2.3% and Microsoft declining 1.1%, while Verizon retreated 1.4%. Qualcomm shed 2.1% after it gave a more conservative five-year outlook compared to its past. Retailers outperformed, up 1.2% as a group, led by strong corporate earnings, with Target surging 7.4% after its 3Q results came in ahead of estimates, while home improvement retailer Lowe’s jumped 6.4% after forecasting full year earnings which exceed consensus forecasts. Office supply chain Staples leapt 9.1% after lifting its 4Q earnings guidance. Among other stocks in focus, Oplink Communications soared 13.8% after being acquired by Koch Optics for US$445m, while Cliff Natural Resources slumped 20% as it looks to exit from its Eastern Canadian iron ore operations. About 6.3b shares were traded on US exchanges, 2% below the three-month average. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones by 1.6 to 1 on the NYSE and 2.5 to 1 onn the Nasdaq. S’pore shares likely to stay muted as both Wall Street and the STI are crossing into overbought territory. Recent gains on the STI were led mainly by the banks, which were the few to report better-than-expected 3Q results. Short term upside for the index remains capped at 3,360 with support at 3,270. Stocks to watch: *Cosmosteel: 4QFY14 net profit soared 74% y/y to $2m as revenue rose 23.4% to $41.5m, driven by higher sales in the energy sector, offset by declines in the marine sector. Gross margin expanded 1.1ppt to 20.1%. First and final DPS halved to 0.5¢. *Yoma: Formed a 9/45.5/45.5 JV with JALUX and Mitsubishi Corp to operate the Mandalay International Airport under a 30-year concession. Operations are scheduled to commence around Mar ’15. Separately, Yoma has raised its interest in KOSPA, a cold chain related business to 50%, after acquiring the 20% stake from its sister company, First Myanmar Investment Co, for US$20k. *Yanlord: S&P revised its outlook on Yanlord from “stable” to “negative”, while maintaining its 'BB-' long-term corporate credit rating, and 'BB-' long-term issue rating on the company's outstanding senior unsecured notes. Accordingly, the rating agency lowered its long-term Greater China regional scale ratings on Yanlord and downgraded the notes to 'cnBB' from 'cnBB+'. *CNMC Goldmine: Its Sokor Gold project produced another record single gold pour of 2,945.01 oz of gold dore bars, +27% from the previous record. *Weiye: Disposing an industrial property at 17 Kian Teck Road for $5.3m (4.5% below mkt valuation) to Chye Joo Construction, given the sluggish outlook of the property market. The factory sits on a land area of 4,877 sm and has 18 years left remaining on its lease. Weiye is expected to book a net disposal gain of Rmb3.8m (0.04¢/share), and improve proforma FY13 NTA/share by 0.9% to Rmb0.41. *Sarine Technologies: Opened its service centre for Sarine Loupe diamond imaging at its offices in New York's Diamond District at 47th Street, Manhattan. *AVIC Int’l Marine: Its subsidiary, Deltamarin will be providing Aker Arctic Technology with basic design services for two polar class heavy deck carriers. The contract is valued at ~€2m and shall be carried out over ~7 months. *Digiland: Obtained in-principle approval from SGX to be removed from the Watchlist wef today. *GLP: Ex-Chairman Jeffrey Schwartz, who stepped down in early Nov citing health reasons, passed away yesterday.