SGX Stock Recommendations

MARKET UPDATES :

• Oil prices rebounded in Asia Thursday after falling sharply to fresh five-year lows in the previous session as Opec cut its forecast for demand in 2015 and US stockpiles saw a surprise surge, analysts said. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery rose 44 cents to US$61.38 while Brent crude for January was up 40 cents at US$64.64 in afternoon trade.

• THREE former senior employees of Singapore Technologies Marine (ST Marine) have been charged in court for corrupt practices. One of them, Chang Cheow Teck, was president of ST Marine from March 2008 to April 2010, and president of ST Aerospace from May 2010 till June this year. ST Engineering had first announced that the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau was investigating certain transactions involving former and current employees in September 2011.

• Cache Logistics Trust (Cache) has proposed the renewal of the master lease at CWT Commodity Hub from April 2015. This is the first renewal since Cache’s listing in 2010. Reversion of 0.4% is c.6% below our net rental income estimate, but could be 10-15% below consensus. We expect unitholders to approve the EGM resolutions as the renewal provides protection from occupancy downside.

• IT has been a good year for initial public offerings (IPO) around the world, with the average listing in 2014 delivering a 17.1 per cent return, according to a report by audit and advisory firm Ernst & Young (EY). By contrast, the MSCI World Index, which tracks global equities, is up just 4.8 per cent year-to-date with reinvested dividends.

• CAPITALAND said on Thursday morning that its serviced residence unit The Ascott Limited is acquiring the Ascott Kuningan Jakarta for S$90 million. Ascott has signed a conditional agreement with PT Ciputra Adigraha, a subsidiary of Jakarta-listed PT Ciputra Property Tbk, to buy over the 185-unit serviced residence, which was recently opened.

S&P Market News Update

A rally in the U.S. stock market, sparked by robust consumer spending data on Thursday, fizzled out by the end of the session as indexes pulled back from session highs, prompted by a renewed slide in oil prices.

The S&P 500 index SPX, +0.45%  closed 8 points, or 0.4%, higher at 2,034. Energy sector stocks went from being up 2% to finish flat at the end. The Nasdaq Composite COMP, +0.52% finished the day up 24.14 points, or 0.5%, at 4,708.16.

Forex Market Update

The dollar extended its gains against the ruble, Norwegian krone and Canadian dollar Thursday as crude oil prices fell below $60 a barrel, a sign that the contagion that has afflicted the ruble for the past two weeks has spread to the currencies of other major oil exporters.

The buck traded at USDNOK, +0.56%  7.32 krone, and USDCAD, +0.10%  1.155 Canadian dollars, its highest level since July 2009, compared with 7.13 krone and 1.140 Canadian dollars Wednesday afternoon.

The euro EURUSD, -0.14% traded slightly below $1.24, compared with $1.245 Wednesday.

The buck traded at 118.90 yen USDJPY, +0.07% compared with ¥117.57 Wednesday. It traded flat against the pound GBPUSD, -0.08%  at $1.57.

The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, +0.00% a trade-weighted measure of the dollar’s strength against a basket of six rival currencies, rose 0.38% to 88.60.