SGX Stock Recommendations

MARKET UPDATES :

• SINGAPORE shares end higher on Wednesday. The Straits Times Index gained 9.55 points to 3,417.57.Some 1.22 billion shares, valued at S$1.3 billion were traded. Gainers numbered 220 while losers numbered 203.

• Roland Thng is seeking to shake up Singapore’s staid corporate landscape, setting up a new hedge fund focused exclusively on influencing the way locally listed companies are run. The 33-year-old has established EVA Capital SP with US$5 million, and initially plans to take stakes in small-and medium-sized construction and engineering companies in order to pressure them to improve performance.

• Sunac China Holdings Ltd signed an agreement to buy 49.3 per cent of troubled Chinese developer Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd and will make a general offer.Sunac is buying the stake from the family of former Kaisa Chairman Kwok Ying Shing and the offer has gone to the Hong Kong stock exchange for approval, Sunac Chairman Sun Hongbin said. Mr Sun said he wants to get Kaisa’s US$23 million missed interest on its bonds, that was due Jan. 8, paid before a 30-day grace period expires. The deal will help Sunac, a developer of high-end apartments, expand into southern China, while Kaisa will avoid becoming the first Chinese developer to default on a dollar bond.

• LIFESTYLE products group OSIM International reported a flat three months of results for its fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2014.A two-cent dividend was declared, unchanged from a year ago.Revenue dipped 0.5 per cent to S$177.7 million from S$178.6 million a year ago, while net profit was down 0.7 per cent to S$27.4 million from S$27.6 million a year ago.

• SINGAPORE’s manufacturers had a subdued start to the new year, with the latest purchasing managers’ index (PMI) signalling that industrial activity shrank for a second straight month in January

• THE Central Provident Fund (CPF) Advisory Panel has come up with nine recommendations in its push for more flexibility in the current CPF system. The suggestions, which form the first part of its recommendations, focus on how the Minimum Sum (MS) should be adjusted after 2015, as well as the amount of lump sum withdrawal at 65.

Forex Market Update

The euro sank Wednesday, extending losses after the European Central Bank revoked a waiver that had allowed Greek banks to use the country’s junk-rated sovereign debt as collateral for cheap loans .

The euro EURUSD, +0.11%  changed hands at $1.1335 in late North American trade, down from $1.1482 late Tuesday. The shared currency had earlier surged as high as $1.1534 — it’s highest level since Jan. 22.

Meanwhile in Japan, the dollar traded at 117.25 Japanese yen USDJPY, +0.03% compared with ¥117.52 late Tuesday in New York. The euro was at ¥132.86.

The WSJ Dollar Index BUXX, -0.08% a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies, was up slightly at 85.56.

Gasoline Market Update

Nymex gasoline for March RBH5, +1.22%  dropped 12 cents, or 7.5%, to end at $1.48 a gallon. March heating oil settled at $1.77 a gallon, down 8 cents, or 4.3%.

Natural gas for March delivery NGH15, +0.19%  fell 9 cents, or 3.3%, to settle at $2.66 per million British thermal units, after a more than 7-cent gain the day before. The EIA will release its weekly data on natural-gas supplies on Thursday. Analysts polled by Platts forecast a supply decline of 114 billion cubic feet to 118 billion cubic feet for the week ended Jan. 30.