SG Market (27 Oct 15)

Singapore shares are due for a technical pullback as investors tread cautiously ahead of the Fed’s two-day FOMC meeting which kick starts today, as well as the upcoming release of earnings from the local banks, starting off with OCBC (28 Oct), followed by UOB (30 Oct) and DBS (2 Nov).

Regional bourses are trading lower this morning in Tokyo (-0.1%), Seoul (-0.4%) and Sydney (-0.1%).

From a chart perspective, resistance for the STI is capped at 3,120 with downside support at 2,980.

Stocks to watch:
*Ascendas India Trust: 2QFY16 DPU jumped 8% to 1.37¢ in tandem with a 9% rise in distributable income to $14.0m even as finance costs burgeoned 46% to $5.9m. Gross revenue grew 14% to $36.5m on income from newly acquired CyberVale and aVance 3. NPI jumped 23% to $23.7m on lower utilities expenses (-8.5% to $8.8m). Portfolio occupancy remained stable at 97% with WALE of 3.5 years, while aggregate leverage climbed to 27% (+1ppt q/q) with average debt cost of 7%. NAV/unit at $0.65.

*Grand Banks Yachts: Swung to 1QFY16 net profit of $1.2m (1QFY15 net loss: $1.3m), as revenue more than doubled to $14m from restructuring efforts and progressive recognition of the net order book, inclusive of contribution from the first two Palm Beach yachts being built in Malaysia. Gross margin soared to 24.5% (15ppt) from brand streamlining efforts, and the stronger USD against the AUD and MYR. NAV/share at $0.24.

*CapitaLand: Entered JV with Saigon Commercial & Tourism Corp to develop a prime site in District 2 at Ho Chi Minh City for an estimated project value of US$55m. The site is located in the expat community of the Thao Dien ward. CapitaLand will hold an 80% stake in the JV.

*ARA Asset Management: Group's Korean subsidiary has partnered ShinYoung, a Korean residential property developer and operator, to launch its third privately-held REIT in South Korea. The REIT, ARA ShinYoung Residential Development Real Estate Investment Co. will focus on residential assets.

*Hyflux: Clinched contract from NEA with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MVI) to develop and operate (for 25 years, 2019-2044) Singapore's largest waste-to-energy plant, which can incinerate 3,600 tonnes of waste to generate 120MW of electricity per day. The plant will be built by a 75/25 project company (TuasOne), on a 4.8ha land, with construction work commencing in early 2016 and expected to complete by 2019.

*Pteris Global: Won 3 contracts worth $64.2m. The first two contracts (Rmb264.3m) are for the supply of Passenger Boarding Bridges (PBB) and ancillary equipment for Terminal 3 and Terminal 2 at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in China, respectively. The third contract worth US$4.3m, is related to the baggage handling system for Phoenix Sky Harbour International Airport, USA.

*Frasers Centrepoint: Opening "Modena by Fraser Bangkok", a 239 unit service residence in 2016 within the FYI Center mixed-use development, located at Rama IV Road, central Bangkok.

*First Resources: Acquired an Indonesian plantation company for US$1.4m.

*Asia-Pac Strategic Investments: Terminated the $500m proposed acquisition of Coeur Gold Armenia as the condition precedent for the acquisition was not fulfilled by the extended long-stop date of 24 Oct 2015.

*TalkMed: JV with StemCord launched two private stem cell banks that will be able to store up to 100,000 umbilical cord units and cord blood units.

*NauticAWT: Received partial funding from SPRING Singapore with regards to its new generation oil well cementing materials project. If successful, it will be able to expand its service offerings and grow in the subsurface and wells business segment.

*Oxley: Launched a 4-year 5% per annum retail bond offering to raise up to $125m. Net proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, working capital and capex.

*Leader Environmental Technologies: Expects to report a significant 3Q15 loss due to impairments on investments in associate as well as write offs.