The market moved within a narrow range on Friday, ending the week mixed. The key Straits Times Index added 1.76 points or 0.06 per cent to 2,915.70. In the broader market, gainers beat losers by eight counters in a volume of 1.05 billion shares valued at $1.20 billion.

The Dow industrials snapped an eight-session winning streak on Friday, as renewed worries about Greece sparked a climb in the dollar and weighed on US stocks. Sectors sensitive to dollar moves were hit hard, including materials, chip makers and energy.

Singapore Exchange’s subsidiary Singapore Commodity Exchange (Sicom) will start trading its Robusta Coffee Futures Contract on April 22, 2010. Sicom Coffee will be a physical delivery futures contract, where one lot of Robusta coffee is equivalent to five tonnes. Robusta coffee beans are either blended with arabica beans for a low-cost brewed coffee or processed into instant coffee. Delivery will be made via warehouse receipts, which are guarantees that sellers will deliver coffee stored in bonded warehouses in Ho Chi Minh City or Singapore.

DBS Group Holdings announced that Koh Boon Hwee will step down as Chairman of the DBSH and DBS Bank boards after the AGM and EGM on 30 April 2010. DBS Board member Peter Seah Lim Huat will assume chairmanship of both boards on 1 May 2010. Seah was a commercial banker for 33 years before retiring as Vice Chairman and CEO of the former Overseas Union Bank (OUB) in 2001.

Keppel Corp has, thorugh, Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited (Keppel O&M) joined hands with State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC) to develop and manage a new 52-ha shipbuilding and shiprepair facility in Baku, Azerbaijan, fortifying its presence in the Caspian Region. The new SOCAR-Keppel Shipyard will be developed over a period of two to three years with an investment of US$386 million ($539 million).

PT Berlian Laju Tanker, Indonesia’s biggest shipping company, withdrew an offer valued at about US$160 million ($224 million) to buy Camillo Eitzen & Co (CECO) after failing to agree on terms. The shipping line withdrew the proposal ‘because there was no conclusive results’ from talks, chief financial officer Kevin Wong said.

Hengyang Petrochem has announced a renounceable non-underwritten rights issue of 33 cents for each rights share on the basis of one rights share for every four shares held. The company has 118,000,000 shares in issue. In the event that the rights Issue is fully subscribed, up to 29,500,000 rights shares will be offered at 33 cents.