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Week-Ahead Comment Feb 8: Still more downside

Written by Joan Ng
Saturday, 06 February 2010 08:41
MARKETS HAVE GROWN increasingly jittery over the last week, thanks to worries about sovereign debt in European countries, Chinese monetary tightening and the surprise rise in unemployment claims in the US. The Straits Times Index ended the week at 2,683.6 points, down 2.3% and tracking the 2.3% decline in the Hang Seng Index. DBS Vickers highlights that technical analysis typically categorises a market correction into three phases: disbelief, panic and despair. The brokerage believes that the last three to four weeks were part of the first phase, marked by investor willingness to bargain-hunt on the view that prices were cheap. “That is now switching to ‘panic’,” DBS says, expecting the STI to head for 2,590. Read more... Add new comment
Last Updated on Monday, 08 February 2010 08:52

Mid-Week Comment Feb 3: SIA soars

Written by Joan Ng
Thursday, 04 February 2010 10:35
NATIONAL CARRIER Singapore Airlines surprised the market yesterday with a return to the black: 3QFY2010 (SIA has a March year end) profits came in at $404 million, besting most analyst expectations. The market promptly rewarded the airline, sending its stock up 86 cents or 6.3% today to close at $14.52, marking its biggest gain since May 7, according to Bloomberg. Analysts too moved to upgrade the stock with OSK (Asia) Securities raising its call to a “buy” from “neutral”, CIMB-GK Securities upgrading it to a “trading buy” from an “underperform” and UOB Kay Hian rating it a “hold” from a “sell”. Read more... Add new comment
Last Updated on Monday, 08 February 2010 14:15

Week-Ahead Comment Jan 25: Policy concerns dominate

Written by Joan Ng
Saturday, 23 January 2010 09:00
THE STRAITS TIMES Index (STI) fell for the second week in a row on continued fears that the Chinese government is starting to tighten liquidity aggressively. Last week, the STI ended at 2,819.7 points, down 3.1%. Compared with its high a fortnight ago, it is now down 3.9%, mirroring declines in bourses around the world. China’s economy grew 8.7% last year, beating the government’s 8% target, while 4Q2009 GDP rose 10.7%, the fastest growth rate in two years. The country’s central bank has raised the interest rate on its treasury bills to curb lending. Reports also say that some banks have been told to rein in lending because they failed to meet regulatory requirements while others have been asked to halt lending for the rest of January. The government is also expected to hike bank reserve ratios, for the second time this month, by another 50 basis points, before the Lunar New Year. Read more... Add new comment
Last Updated on Monday, 25 January 2010 08:40

Week-Ahead Comment Dec 21: Window-dressing ahead

Written by Joan Ng
Saturday, 19 December 2009 11:09
THE STRAITS TIMES Index touched yet another high last week, hitting 2,827.9 points on Thursday, but trading volumes have been weak — most investors and traders are on their year-end breaks. There was not much in the way of positive news to help things along, either. Citigroup’s capital-raising to repay the government saw weak take-up, while Fed-Ex Corp warned of a softer profit outlook for the quarter ahead. Also, Greece’s credit rating has been cut yet again, this time by Standard & Poor’s. By Friday, the rally had petered out, with the STI ending the week up slightly less than two points at 2,802.6. Read more... Comments (1)
Last Updated on Saturday, 23 January 2010 06:58

Week ahead comment Dec 7: Holiday mood

Written by Joan Ng
Saturday, 05 December 2009 10:21
AFTER A SHARP plunge last Monday on jitters over Dubai’s debt debacle, the Straits Times Index surged to a new 52-week high of 2,808.2 points. However, Friday saw those gains pared to end the week up just 1%, lagging behind Japan’s Nikkei 225, up 10.4%; and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, up 6.5%. Among the concerns have been weak economic data out of the US, looming US bond auctions, and signs that central banks are starting to withdraw liquidity from the financial system. Dealers said some investors saw a good chance to take profits after the rally and exit the market or close positions ahead of the Christmas break. Read more... Add new comment
Last Updated on Monday, 07 December 2009 09:15

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