Singapore shares shrugged off some lower-than-expected China
data to end at a fresh more than two-year high Friday with better-than-expected
euro-zone manufacturing data likely offering a fillip in late trade.
The 30-share Straits Times Index ended up 8.48 points, or 0.3%, at 3291.14, its highest close since November 2010; the index is up 0.7% for the week.
Shares spend much of the morning slightly in the red after China's official purchasing managers index for January came in at 50.4--below December's 50.6 and the 51.0 estimate from a Dow Jones poll of economists.
"It doesn't really suggest that the recovery will be taking a turn for the worse. What it merely suggests is that there is probably a bit more risk and uncertainty surrounding the recovery and the pace of the recovery. It doesn't really change our underlying assumptions that the economy has stabilized," said Thomas Lam, group chief economist at OSK-DMG. "My suspicion is that you don't want to really overreact to that. It did come in weaker, but at the same time, it's still marginally in expansion territory," he said. He noted markets are also awaiting the key U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, due later Friday.
In late afternoon trade, shares likely got a fillip from a rally in the euro after euro-zone PMI for January came in at 47.9, up from 46.1 in December and above the 47.5 expected.
But volumes slipped, with 3.23 billion shares valued at S$1.64 billion changing hands, down from Thursday's 3.91 billion shares valued at S$2.08 billion.
"The speculators are slightly more cautious, with the data and with the level of the STI right now," said Ng Kian Teck, an analyst at SIAS Research, noting the STI's technical indicators are overbought.
Shopping-mall operator CapitaMalls Asia was the best-performing index component, climbing 3.7% to S$2.24, with an analyst saying the rise was on a Citigroup report saying the stock is its preferred pick among China retail landlords and adding the stock to its Focus List. "CMA is poised to harvest multiyear gains from sustained investment in the China consumer growth story, while earnings will be anchored by recurring income in Singapore," Citigroup said.
SingTel ended flat at S$3.50 in spite of 32%-owned associate Bharti Airtel reporting its fiscal-3Q13 net profit dropped 72% on-year to INR2.84 billion, sharply below the INR7.96 billion average forecast from a Dow Jones poll. "We have been paring down our expectations for Bharti" as well as SingTel's other associates, said Carey Wong, an analyst at OCBC.
Casino operator Genting Singapore shed 1.6% to S$1.525, erasing some of Thursday's 5.8% rise. "While its share price reacted positively to the news of Marina Bay Sands' earnings, investors may want to take profit ahead of its results on Feb. 21," said Maybank-Kim Eng, in a note. While MBS 4Q12 results were decent, driven by VIP volume growth, "the same may not necessarily be true of Genting Singapore."
The 30-share Straits Times Index ended up 8.48 points, or 0.3%, at 3291.14, its highest close since November 2010; the index is up 0.7% for the week.
Shares spend much of the morning slightly in the red after China's official purchasing managers index for January came in at 50.4--below December's 50.6 and the 51.0 estimate from a Dow Jones poll of economists.
"It doesn't really suggest that the recovery will be taking a turn for the worse. What it merely suggests is that there is probably a bit more risk and uncertainty surrounding the recovery and the pace of the recovery. It doesn't really change our underlying assumptions that the economy has stabilized," said Thomas Lam, group chief economist at OSK-DMG. "My suspicion is that you don't want to really overreact to that. It did come in weaker, but at the same time, it's still marginally in expansion territory," he said. He noted markets are also awaiting the key U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, due later Friday.
In late afternoon trade, shares likely got a fillip from a rally in the euro after euro-zone PMI for January came in at 47.9, up from 46.1 in December and above the 47.5 expected.
But volumes slipped, with 3.23 billion shares valued at S$1.64 billion changing hands, down from Thursday's 3.91 billion shares valued at S$2.08 billion.
"The speculators are slightly more cautious, with the data and with the level of the STI right now," said Ng Kian Teck, an analyst at SIAS Research, noting the STI's technical indicators are overbought.
Shopping-mall operator CapitaMalls Asia was the best-performing index component, climbing 3.7% to S$2.24, with an analyst saying the rise was on a Citigroup report saying the stock is its preferred pick among China retail landlords and adding the stock to its Focus List. "CMA is poised to harvest multiyear gains from sustained investment in the China consumer growth story, while earnings will be anchored by recurring income in Singapore," Citigroup said.
SingTel ended flat at S$3.50 in spite of 32%-owned associate Bharti Airtel reporting its fiscal-3Q13 net profit dropped 72% on-year to INR2.84 billion, sharply below the INR7.96 billion average forecast from a Dow Jones poll. "We have been paring down our expectations for Bharti" as well as SingTel's other associates, said Carey Wong, an analyst at OCBC.
Casino operator Genting Singapore shed 1.6% to S$1.525, erasing some of Thursday's 5.8% rise. "While its share price reacted positively to the news of Marina Bay Sands' earnings, investors may want to take profit ahead of its results on Feb. 21," said Maybank-Kim Eng, in a note. While MBS 4Q12 results were decent, driven by VIP volume growth, "the same may not necessarily be true of Genting Singapore."
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