Singapore's shares ended higher Friday, turning in gains for
nine sessions out of the past ten, as the market shrugged off negative
rumblings over negotiations to avert the U.S. fiscal cliff.
Republicans on Thursday rejected President Obama's opening budget-talk bid and House Speaker Boehner said he was "disappointed" with the lack of progress. "The market is prepping for an amicable resolution and attributing the comments from the Republicans as just that. It's not translating into any (market) reaction," said Liu Jinshu, deputy lead analyst at SIAS Research. "The positive is that they've started to talk. It's different from August 2011. This time around, the White House is taking the initiative. If the Republicans reject the package, the blame will be on them," he said. But in a note, Maybank warned "the mood of the crowd can turn on a dime, and we think it best to resort to watching the charts and headlines closer in the short term."
The 30-share Straits Times Index ended up 24.05 points, or 0.8%, at 3069.95, its highest close since Oct. 8. The index tacked on 2.7% for the week. Volume was strong at 2.32 billion shares valued at S$2.36 billion, indicating market players are refocusing on blue-chips after their recent infatuation with penny plays.
But Yeo Kee Yan, market strategist at DBS Vickers, said the gains might not last. "I don't see the index continuing to rise next week. At best sideways, or giving back some of this week's gain," he said. He added that gains will likely be capped until there's a resolution to the fiscal cliff, and said the index's near-term resistance around 3090-3100 was very close. He also expects the traditional year-end lull period to put a damper on gains, with shares picking up again only around the Christmas period.
Olam tacked on 1.0% to S$1.575, extending Thursday's 4.0% rise in strong volume. An analyst said insider buying by the CEO and two directors are "a strong show of support," while there was nothing new in short seller Muddy Waters' latest salvo against the company. Muddy Waters issued an eight-page response to Olam's 45-page rebuttal of the short seller's 133-page report accusing the commodities trader of a litany of failures, ranging from incompetence to malfeasance; Olam called the allegations "false and misleading" and has filed suit in Singapore on allegation of libel and slander.
Among other commodity plays, Golden Agri ended down 0.8% at S$0.66, erasing some of Thursday's 4.7% rise in strong volume accounting for 6.6% of shares changing hands on the SGX.
CapitaLand rose 0.9% to S$3.53. Citigroup said the company's S$505 million bid for a Bishan residential site adjacent to its current Sky Habitat project was a defensive move to prevent competing developers from under-cutting its price.
Genting Singapore advanced 2.4% to S$1.28 in strong volume, with large trade sizes suggesting institutional interest. "Some people believe that we're at the bottom of the earnings cycle for gaming around the region," an analyst said, adding another potential reason for the rise is "you've got pending political change in Japan. So people obviously get hopeful about potential legalization of casinos."
Republicans on Thursday rejected President Obama's opening budget-talk bid and House Speaker Boehner said he was "disappointed" with the lack of progress. "The market is prepping for an amicable resolution and attributing the comments from the Republicans as just that. It's not translating into any (market) reaction," said Liu Jinshu, deputy lead analyst at SIAS Research. "The positive is that they've started to talk. It's different from August 2011. This time around, the White House is taking the initiative. If the Republicans reject the package, the blame will be on them," he said. But in a note, Maybank warned "the mood of the crowd can turn on a dime, and we think it best to resort to watching the charts and headlines closer in the short term."
The 30-share Straits Times Index ended up 24.05 points, or 0.8%, at 3069.95, its highest close since Oct. 8. The index tacked on 2.7% for the week. Volume was strong at 2.32 billion shares valued at S$2.36 billion, indicating market players are refocusing on blue-chips after their recent infatuation with penny plays.
But Yeo Kee Yan, market strategist at DBS Vickers, said the gains might not last. "I don't see the index continuing to rise next week. At best sideways, or giving back some of this week's gain," he said. He added that gains will likely be capped until there's a resolution to the fiscal cliff, and said the index's near-term resistance around 3090-3100 was very close. He also expects the traditional year-end lull period to put a damper on gains, with shares picking up again only around the Christmas period.
Olam tacked on 1.0% to S$1.575, extending Thursday's 4.0% rise in strong volume. An analyst said insider buying by the CEO and two directors are "a strong show of support," while there was nothing new in short seller Muddy Waters' latest salvo against the company. Muddy Waters issued an eight-page response to Olam's 45-page rebuttal of the short seller's 133-page report accusing the commodities trader of a litany of failures, ranging from incompetence to malfeasance; Olam called the allegations "false and misleading" and has filed suit in Singapore on allegation of libel and slander.
Among other commodity plays, Golden Agri ended down 0.8% at S$0.66, erasing some of Thursday's 4.7% rise in strong volume accounting for 6.6% of shares changing hands on the SGX.
CapitaLand rose 0.9% to S$3.53. Citigroup said the company's S$505 million bid for a Bishan residential site adjacent to its current Sky Habitat project was a defensive move to prevent competing developers from under-cutting its price.
Genting Singapore advanced 2.4% to S$1.28 in strong volume, with large trade sizes suggesting institutional interest. "Some people believe that we're at the bottom of the earnings cycle for gaming around the region," an analyst said, adding another potential reason for the rise is "you've got pending political change in Japan. So people obviously get hopeful about potential legalization of casinos."
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