Market Summary at 6th April 2012

Singapore shares ended flat Thursday as unsettled investors swung between cheers and jeers on mixed leads from stronger Chinese equities and disappointing results at Spain's bond auctions.
The 30-share Straits Times Index added just 1.16 points to close at 2,986.20 ahead of the Good Friday holiday. The index endured a choppy session, rising by as much as 0.6% after falling some 0.7% earlier. It closed the truncated week 0.8% lower.
Initial setbacks for the STI came after a dismal outcome for Spanish bond auctions Wednesday, which re-ignited concerns about the ability of peripheral European nations to fund debt. But optimism later rubbed off from Chinese investors who welcomed Beijing's move to increase the amount of capital foreign investors can bring into China.
After Wednesday's sell-off, in which the STI dropped 1%, Westpac noted the Federal Open Market Committee minutes have rarely affected the market so strongly, with the Fed normally offering plenty of commentary in the three-week delay between the meeting and the minutes' release.
"This raises the question of whether the market reaction was excessive," Westpac said in a note, adding "it is clear that there is no push for QE3 on current information on projections. But the Fed's forecasts have been wrong before." If U.S. non-farm payrolls data due Friday disappoint high-consensus expectations, as Westpac's model warned, QE3 chatter will likely pick up again, it said.
In the broader market, volume eased slightly to 1.62 billion shares from 1.69 billion shares Wednesday. Gainers shaded decliners 179 to 174.
But the opposite was true on the benchmark index, with 16 decliners to 12 gainers. Heavyweights provided support with Jardine Strategic Holdings rising 3% to US$32.33 and Jardine Cycle & Carriage adding 1.3% to S$48.94.
Container shipper Neptune Orient Lines advanced 1.4% to S$1.43. Credit Suisse said Asian shipping-liners are undervalued after recent general rate increases across all significant trade lanes, tipping NOL as a preferred pick, rating it Outperform with a S$1.85 target.
Rig builders also did well after announcing fresh contracts. Keppel Corp. rose 0.9% to S$11.03, while Sembcorp Marine added 0.4% to S$5.25.
Most property stocks underperformed with Global Logistic Properties down 1.8% at S$2.15 and CapitaLand dropping 1% to S$3.06. City Developments also fell, ending 0.2% lower at S$10.90 while CapitaMalls Asia gave up 0.9% to close at S$1.595. In a note, Citigroup said it raised price targets for Singapore's property developers, but also expects the overhang from policy risks to persist, given macroeconomic factors that have been supportive of buying demand.
Banks also declined, led lower by DBS Group Holdings' 1% fall to S$13.34 as it continued to slide following the announcement of its S$9.1 billion bid to take over Indonesia's Bank Danamon. The lender's shares are now 8% off its 2012 peak, reached in March. Meanwhile, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. dropped 0.7% to S$8.82, and United Overseas Bank eased 0.2% to S$18.36.