SGX Stock Recommendations

MARKET UPDATES :

• SINGAPORE share prices opened flat on Tuesday with the Straits Times Index down 0.94 points to 3,339.59. Volume was 83.2 million shares worth S$107.1 million. Losers outnumbered gainers 67 to 64.

• SINGAPORE shares ended higher on Tuesday with the Straits Times Index gaining 4.46 points to 3,344.99. Some 1.78 billion shares, valued at S$1.83 billion were traded. Gainers numbered 172 while losers numbered 233.

• THE Singapore government now expects the economy to grow by 3 per cent this year – at the mid-point of its earlier official forecast of 2.5-3.5 per cent, which had been kept unchanged since August. The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) announced on Tuesday morning that Q3 GDP grew a stronger 2.8 per cent year-on-year, thanks to stronger growth in the manufacturing and services sector.

• SINGAPORE’S non-oil domestic exports for 2015 are tipped to move into positive terrain, growing between 1.0 and 3.0 per cent year on year, up from a revised forecast of 1.0-1.5 per cent dip this year, according to trade promotion agency International Enterprise Singapore. Earlier growth projection for the NODX was a 1.0-2.0 drop for 2014.

Forex Market Update

Surprisingly weak consumer confidence data pushed the dollar lower against the yen, euro and pound Tuesday as investors worried that consumers might be tamping down spending ahead of the holiday shopping season.

The ICE Dollar Index DXY, +0.03%  , a measure of the greenback’s strength against a basket of six rival currencies, was down 0.30% to 87.8940, trading below the 88.0000 level for the first time sin1ce Friday.

The euro EURUSD, +0.00% traded at $1.2473, compared to $1.2430 late Monday. The shared currency is the most heavily-weighted component of the dollar index.


The dollar USDJPY, -0.13%   traded at 117.99 yen, surrendering its gains from Monday’s session and returning to its Friday level. It traded at ¥118.29 Monday afternoon.
The Australian dollar AUDUSD, +0.08%  traded at 85.24 cents, just above a four-year low reached earlier in the session. 

Natural Gas Market Update

January natural gas NGF15, +0.07%  erased an earlier decline to rise nearly 11 cents, or 2.4%, to $4.409 per million British thermal units, on forecasts for colder U.S. weather.