SG Market (01 Oct 15)

Positive sentiment is expected to spill over to the Singapore market, following the overnight surge on Wall Street due to targeted buying of battered down stocks. However, activity may be limited with the Hong Kong market closed for a holiday today.

Regional bourses all opened higher in Tokyo (+0.6%), Seoul (+0.1%) and Sydney (+0.8%).

From a chart perspective, the respite in STI may continue, supported by oversold indicators. Topside resistance remains at 2,860 (20-dma), while downside support for the index is at 2,670.

Stocks to watch:
*ST Engineering: Appointed current Deputy CEO Vincent Chong Sy Feng as the new President & CEO of the group. Separately, STE acquired the remaining 50% stake in Singapore Precision Repair and Overhaul from Messier-Bugatti-Dowty for $8.2m, to develop a centre of excellence for landing gear maintenance, repair and overhaul in Singapore.

*Guocoland: Virgin Active will become a multi-year anchor tenant at Guoco Tower upon completion of development in mid-2016, with a take up of 31,000 sf of space.

*SBI Offshore: 51%-owned Graess Energy received its first solar power contract in the Maldives. A 20-year power purchase agreement is expected to be signed in mid-Oct which will have an initial generation capacity of 1.5MW which will bring in ~US$550k in revenue annually.

*Global Yellow Pages: Announced a NZ$500m development to build Auckland's Pakuranga Plaza, which will comprise residential, retail and commercial properties.

*Loyz Energy: Terminated an MOU to purchase Primeline Energy Holdings due to the current market volatility. Loyz originally intended to purchase the China-based O&G E&P company for $197m through the issuance of new shares that were priced at $0.11 each.

*IEV: Acquired a 5-year master license for the Oxifree corrosion control technology in India, making it the fifth country that IEV has the exclusivity.

*Roxy Pacific: Acquired a freehold site at Sea Avenue, Singapore, for $21.5m. The 19,474 sf site has an existing plot ratio of 1.4 for residential use.

*SingTel: 21.4%-owned Advanced Info Service in Thailand received an arbitration notice from TOT, claiming for additional ~70b baht payment in relation to a cellular mobile telephone service agreement. The group has submitted a dispute on the case.

*Nico Steel: Proposed issue of 2% redeemable convertible bonds due 2018 of $50m to Value Capital Asset Management's Premier Equity Fund. Proceeds shall be applied towards making investments (80-90%) and for general working capital (10-20%).

*Asia Fashion: Proposed issue of 100.4m new shares (13.5% share capital) at $0.06 apiece (316% above last close) by way of capitalisation, in relation to amounts owed to individual bond subscriber Li Yu huan.

*QT Vascular: Successfully defended against a patent lawsuit filed by AngioScore, which would allow the group to continue to make and sell its Chocolate Balloon Catheter in the US.

*Ramba: Requested for extended trading halt till 5pm on 2 Oct, as it is still in the process of negotiating and finalising a potential agreement.

*Civmec: In relation to a media report, Civmec clarified that it would invest A$30m in infrastructure facilities, only, if it was confident about securing a contract to build new submarines in Australia.

*Hong Leong: Expects to incur a 3Q15 loss due to increased losses from its consumer products unit due to weak sales, as well as lower contributions from other business units.