Singapore STI Ended Higher With Positive Sentiment in its Next Trading Session

STI MARKET REVIEW:

Singapore’s benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) opened 3.43 points higher or 0.12% on Thursday morning after the US Federal Reserve raised its short term interest after 7 years and the market ended higher to 20.26 points or 0.71 percentage higher at 2861.18. STI came off from its intra-day peak of 2868.27 and low of 2833.57. Market breadth was positive. Excluding warrants, gainers outnumber decliners 200 to 165. Get Free Trial of Trading Signals

LOCAL BOURSE

Non-oil domestic exports fell 3.3% y-o-y in November after flat growth in October.On a m-o-m, seasonally adjusted basis, NODX slipped 3.8% after October's 0.3% dip.Both the y-o-y and m-o-m figures for October have been revised: the former was earlier reported to be a 0.5% decline and the latter was a 1.1% rise.Non-oil re-exports continued to increase in November, but eased from 6.1% in October to 5.1% y-o-y,due to an expansion in both electronic and non-electronic NORX.

MARKET FORECAST

STI is expected to consolidate with positive sentiment in its next trading session. Also the market has responded positively towards the interest rate hike by Federal Reserve for the first time in nearly a decade on Wednesday. It has its support at 2829 and resistance at 2876. Investors are cautious as Singapore non-oil domestic exports fell in November but the market is expected to move with positive sentiments.

STI COUNTER SPECIFIC NEWS

• IPC Corporation is proposing a capital reduction move to return $136.467 million in cash to shareholders, or $1.60 per share.The existing cash hoard of the company came from sale of seven hotels in Japan for around JPY14.94 billion, or some $172.22 million.
• The Trendlines Group has established two new portfolio companies, Tandem Technologies and Zeev Implants, via its unit Trendlines Medical.The two new companies bring the total number of Trendlines portfolio companies to 47.Tandem Technologies aims to make the process of removing and retrieving colon polyps much more efficient and accurate, with the goal of a near 100% retrieval rate.
• EZRA Holdings has agreed to buy subsidiary EMAS Offshore's entire 12.13 per cent stake in Malaysia-listed Perisai Petroleum Teknologi for US$56 million, a 500 per cent premium to the share market value.The agreed price of US$56 million is based on the cost of EMAS's investment at inception.

GLOBAL FACTORS AND WORLD INDICES:

• Asian stock markets jumped on Thursday as investors chose to take an historic hike in US interest rates as a mark of confidence in the world's largest economy, lifting the dollar and piling on the pain for oil prices.China also allowed its currency slip for a 10th straight session to hit its lowest since June 2011. The steady decline in turn puts pressure on other Asian currencies to depreciate to stay competitive.
• The Federal Reserve hiked interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade signaling faith that the US economy had largely overcome the wounds of the 2007-2009 financial crisis.The US central bank's policy-setting committee raised the range of its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to between 0.25% and 0.50%, ending a lengthy debate about whether the economy was strong enough to withstand higher borrowing costs.
• China stocks rallied on Thursday as risk appetite improved after the Federal Reserve raised rates for the first time in nearly a decade, as expected, removing a major source of uncertainty about the US central bank's policy.The CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen rose 1.9 per cent, to 3,755.89.
• The People's Bank of China set its official midpoint rate at 6.4757 per dollar, its weakest level since June 2011, and 0.2 per cent weaker than the previous fix of 6.4626.The sharply weaker yuan midpoint reflected the dollar's strength in global markets after the US Federal Reserve raised its policy interest rate overnight, traders said.
• Tokyo stocks jumped on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve hiked interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade, underscoring its confidence in the health of the world's top economy.The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 1.59 percent, or 303.65 points, to finish at 19,353.56.
• Australian shares rose 1.46 per cent on Thursday, joining a global equities rally as investors piled back into the markets after a US interest rate hike signalled confidence in the world's largest economy.The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 73.55 points to 5,102 at the close of trade, after reaching a high of 5,129.1 earlier in the session.
• Japan's exports in November fell at the fastest pace in almost three years as shipments to Asia declined in a worrying sign that weakness in overseas demand could curb economic growth. Data showed that exports fell 3.3 per cent in November from a year earlier, more than the median estimate for a 1.5 per cent annual decline.
• The US dollar rose slightly against the euro and the yen on Wednesday after the US Federal Reserve's historic move to raise interest rates for the first time in nine years.The dollar rose to US$1.0911 per euro around 2200 GMT from US$1.0930 at the same time on Tuesday. The greenback was up 0.5 per cent at 122.26 yen.
• Gold slipped on Thursday to give back some of its overnight gains, with trading choppy as the dollar surged after the Federal Reserve hiked US interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade.Gold has slumped nearly 10% this year, largely on uncertainty around the timing of the rate rise and on fears that higher rates would hit demand for the non-interest-paying metal. It had fallen to a near-six-year low earlier this month.
• Crude prices extended losses in Asia Thursday after another report showing a further increase in US stockpiles added to fears about a global glut.The under-pressure commodity suffered fresh selling on Wednesday after the US Department of Energy showed that supplies rose 4.8 million barrels.