Singapore Market in Holiday Mood as Many Traders Still in Leave

STI MARKET REVIEW:

Singapore’s benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) opened 0.2 percent or 4.91 points higher at 2882.53 on Monday and ended lower to -0.08 percent or points at -2.30. STI came off from its intra-day peak of 2889.14 and low of 2869.69. 3 Days Free Trial Signals

The Singapore market appears to be stuck in holiday mood because of many traders are still in leave.

LOCAL BOURSE

Singapore will provide advance estimates of GDP for the fourth quarter and for 2015. A quarterly survey by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) earlier this month showed that economists expect GDP to expand by 1.4% on a year-on-year basis in the fourth quarter, down from 1.9 per cent growth in the third quarter. The survey showed that full-year growth for 2015 was expected to be 1.9%.

MARKET FORECAST

STI is expected to consolidate in its next trading session. It has its support at 2857 and resistance at 2903. The RSI level is near the center line at 49.521 and if it crosses the center line then the market is expected to move up-to the level of 2910. The volume might be on the lower side due to the thin year ending and cautiousness of the investors over the high fluctuation in oil prices.

STI COUNTER SPECIFIC NEWS

• Coal-mining group Geo Energy Resources has entered into a conditional sale-and-purchase agreement to buy the remaining 34 per cent shareholding interest in Borneo International Resources Pte Ltd that it does not already own for US$25 million.Borneo International Resources indirectly holds an effective equity interest of 98.96 per cent in PT Sungai Danau Jaya (SDJ), which holds coal-mining concession in South Kalimantan, Indonesia.
• Xyec Holdings units Neutral Co and ACLOX Co will be merged with effect from 1 April 2016.The merger was proposed because both subsidiaries offer similar activities in the provision of experienced engineers to customers in major manufacturing industries, primarily IT Services.Xyec believes that the merger would lead to the more effective use of facilities and resources as well as better execution of operation currently performed by leveraging economies of scale.
• Wee Hur Holdings has acquired an office building and an adjoining piece of land in Brisbane, Australia, for A$63 million ($64.2 million).With a net let table area of about 14,000 sqm, the property is located in the Central Business District of Brisbane.

GLOBAL FACTORS AND WORLD INDICES:

• Asian stocks dipped on Monday amid a lack of immediate directional cues in light year-end trade, although Japanese shares managed to rise following a rebound in crude oil prices from multiple-year lows.Investors across asset markets were without some of the usual leads as markets in Europe and North America and many in Asia were closed on Friday for Christmas.MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gave up earlier modest gains.
• China stocks tumbled more than 2 per cent on Monday, their biggest loss in a month, as weak industrial profit data and a looming revamp of how companies will be listed, weighed on the market.The blue-chip CSI300 index tanked 2.9 per cent, to 3,727.63, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 2.6 per cent, to 3,533.78 points.
• Tokyo stocks snapped a five-day losing streak in a quiet trading session Monday as bargain-buying and a weaker yen lifted the market in the last trading week of 2015.The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange advanced 0.56 per cent, or 104.29 points, to close at 18,873.35.
• Hong Kong stocks fell on Monday, pulled lower by a slump in mainland shares on the first trading day after last week's Christmas holiday.The Hang Seng Index fell 1.0 per cent, to 21,919.62, while the China Enterprises Index lost 1.7 per cent, to 9,789.46 points.
• Malaysian shares closed higher on Monday, with the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gaining 7.22 points to 1,670.73.Some 1.91 billion lots, valued at RM1.72 billion, were traded. Gainers outnumbered losers 493 to 418.
• Japan's industrial output fell 1.0 per cent in November from the previous month, data showed on Monday, suggesting that sluggish emerging market demand continues to cloud the outlook for the economy.The fall compared with a median market forecast of a 0.6 per cent drop.
• Gold held a weekly gain as investors weighed the outlook for inflation in the US for clues on the likely pace of interest rate increases by the the Federal Reserve in 2016.The metal gained 0.9 per cent last week.
• Oil prices fell on Monday after the long Christmas weekend, with US crudes defending a newly gained premium over internationally traded Brent contracts.Front-month US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were trading at US$37.91 per tonne, down 19 cents from their last settlement.Brent was down 18 cents at US$17.71 a barrel, meaning that US crude defended a premium it gained over the globally traded benchmark last week.
• The dollar inched away from a two-month low against the yen on Monday, while a resumption in falls in oil prices took linked currencies including the Australian and Canadian dollars around a third of a percent lower.Australia and the key London market in currencies were among those still closed for local holidays.