Malaysia: Shares open higher on Thursday

MALAYSIA share prices opened higher on Thursday with the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index up 4.110 points to 1682.350.

Volume was 61.3 million lots worth RM43.9 million.

Losers outnumbered gainers 86 to 81.

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South Korea's July factory output rebounds, focus turns to trade

South Korea's industrial output unexpectedly grew in July but the improvement was mainly due to temporary factors, spurring investors to hone in on trade data out on Thursday for further clues on the health of the economy.

In monthly terms, industrial output rose 1.4 per cent in July on a seasonally adjusted basis as production of electronic components and cars boosted activity, data showed on Wednesday.

The median forecast in a Reuters survey of analysts was for output to decline 0.6 per cent from June. June's reading was revised down to minus 0.4 per cent from minus 0.2 per cent estimated earlier.

"We think the bounces in confidence and in IP growth are noise rather than signal and that IP growth remains essentially flat and services are growing around 3 per cent," said Tim Condon, economist at ING. "If IP and services remain at their July level in the remainder of the quarter, we estimate third-quarter growth at 3.0 per cent."Click Here To Register For Free Trial Services OR Give A Missed Call : +6531581402 Follow Us On Twitter : www.twitter.com/epicresearchsg Like Us On Facebook : www.facebook.com/EpicResearchSingapore Need Any Assistance Feel Free To Mail Us at : info@epicresearch.sg

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Gold heads for monthly decline as Fed rate fears damp its appeal

Gold is headed for the first monthly decline since May as investors price in the prospect of higher US borrowing costs by the end of the year and slowing purchases of bullion-backed exchange-traded funds.

Bullion for immediate delivery was 0.2 per cent higher at US$1,313.49 an ounce at 9:29am in Singapore, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. The metal dropped to US$1,309.34 on Tuesday, the lowest level since June 28, and is down 2.8 per cent this month.

Gold's drop this month would be the first for August since 2009, as the metal generally climbs on jewelry demand ahead of the wedding and festival season in India, the top consumer along with China. The pullback has followed hawkish comments by Federal Reserve officials, which have increased bets on monetary tightening and boosted the US dollar.

Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said Tuesday incoming economic data will determine the trajectory of interest-rate increases and expressed optimism that productivity growth will rebound.Click Here To Register For Free Trial Services OR Give A Missed Call : +6531581402 Follow Us On Twitter : www.twitter.com/epicresearchsg Like Us On Facebook : www.facebook.com/EpicResearchSingapore Need Any Assistance Feel Free To Mail Us at : info@epicresearch.sg

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Hong Kong, Shanghai: Shares open flat

Hong Kong shares were barely moved in the first few minutes of trade Wednesday following the previous day's sharp gains.

The Hang Seng Index edged down 3.92 points, to 23,012.19.

And in Shanghai the composite index was flat, edging down 1.76 points to 3,072.92, while the Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, was marginally down, dipping 0.21 points to 2,028.57.Click Here To Register For Free Trial Services OR Give A Missed Call : +6531581402 Follow Us On Twitter : www.twitter.com/epicresearchsg Like Us On Facebook : www.facebook.com/EpicResearchSingapore Need Any Assistance Feel Free To Mail Us at : info@epicresearch.sg

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Singapore shares open 0.6% up on Tuesday

SINGAPORE stocks opened 0.6 per cent higher on Tuesday, with the Straits Times Index rising 15.58 points to 2,845.01 as at 9am.

The blue-chip index was buoyed by market sentiment recovering from Fed rate hike fears.

About 41 million shares worth S$31.5 million in total changed hands, which worked out to an average unit price of S$0.77 per share.

Top stocks by value traded were HTL International, Singtel, ComfortDelGro, Hongkong Land and City Developments.

Gainers outnumbered losers 92 to 48, or about two up for every one down.Click Here To Register For Free Trial Services OR Give A Missed Call : +6531581402 Follow Us On Twitter : www.twitter.com/epicresearchsg Like Us On Facebook : www.facebook.com/EpicResearchSingapore Need Any Assistance Feel Free To Mail Us at : info@epicresearch.sg

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Singapore shares open 2.24 points higher on Thursday

SINGAPORE share prices opened higher on Thursday, with the Straits Times Index up 2.24 points or 0.08 per cent to 2,871.81 as at 9.04am, despite losses on Wall Street overnight.

Top gainers in early-morning trade included DBS and UOB.

Some 31.5 million shares worth S$52.9 million changed hands, with losers outnumbering gainers 68 to 46.Click Here To Register For Free Trial Services OR Give A Missed Call : +6531581402 Follow Us On Twitter : www.twitter.com/epicresearchsg Like Us On Facebook : www.facebook.com/EpicResearchSingapore Need Any Assistance Feel Free To Mail Us at : info@epicresearch.sg

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Stocks to watch: SGX, penny stocks, AusGroup, Santak, Mary Chia

SINGAPORE Exchange (SGX): The bourse operator is suspending its minimum trading price (MTP) requirements for mainboard-listed companies as it considers a proposal to add a market capitalisation criterion to the current framework.

The moratorium will give more breathing space to 125 listed companies that are either already on the MTP watch-list or that were expected to be added to it in September.

AusGroup: The engineering, port and marine services company warned of a fourth-quarter net loss due to a "prolonged adverse business environment". The company also said it has decided to end its Sinagpore fabrication and manufacturing businesses.
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SGX close to allowing exceptions for dual-class share listings

THE Singapore Exchange's Listings Advisory Committee (LAC) is set to lay out ground rules in the coming weeks that will allow for multiple-class share structures, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The LAC, an autonomous body that provides independent opinions on unusual listing applications for SGX, is expected to allow dual-class structures only when there are compelling reasons to do so, the sources said.

Examples of such reasons would be when there are certain individuals who play indispensable roles in the company, such as the founders of search engine giant Google; or when an uneven ownership structure is long-standing practice.Click Here To Register For Free Trial Services OR Give A Missed Call : +6531581402 Follow Us On Twitter : www.twitter.com/epicresearchsg Like Us On Facebook : www.facebook.com/EpicResearchSingapore Need Any Assistance Feel Free To Mail Us at : info@epicresearch.sg

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SGX trading queries issued to Best World, LionGold, Broadway Industrial

THREE companies - Best World International, LionGold Corp and Broadway Industrial Group - were queried by Singapore Exchange (SGX) on Monday regarding their trading activities.

The query to Best World, for unusual price movements, marked the fifth query from SGX to the group in the past five months. The company had just received in-principle approval for its one-for-four bonus issue, with book closure date to be announced in due course.

At 12.50pm, Best World was up 5 per cent at S$1.77, with 2.13 million shares traded.

LionGold was unchanged at 0.1 cent as it topped the volume chart with hefty trading of 394.1 million shares. One of its directors, Md Wira Dani Abdul Daim, stepped down as non-executive director last week after he was made a bankrupt in Singapore.Click Here To Register For Free Trial Services OR Give A Missed Call : +6531581402 Follow Us On Twitter : www.twitter.com/epicresearchsg Like Us On Facebook : www.facebook.com/EpicResearchSingapore Need Any Assistance Feel Free To Mail Us at : info@epicresearch.sg

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Singapore shares open lower on US stocks slip

SINGAPORE shares on Wednesday opened lower following Wall Street's overnight loss as shares of retailers and carmakers tumbled.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) opened 0.98 per cent or 28.01 points lower at 2,828.66.

As at 9.03am, some 62.2 million shares worth S$82.4 million changed hands, with losers beating gainers 81 to 44.Click Here To Register For Free Trial Services OR Give A Missed Call : +6531581402 Follow Us On Twitter : www.twitter.com/epicresearchsg Like Us On Facebook : www.facebook.com/EpicResearchSingapore Need Any Assistance Feel Free To Mail Us at : info@epicresearch.sg

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Yoma’s 1Q17 earnings drop 28.6% to $1.8 million on softer property-related sales

Myanmar-focused business conglomerate, Yoma Strategic Holdings, reported a decrease in earnings to $1.8 million for the three months ended 30 June 2016 in 1Q17.

Revenue fell 22.4% to $17.6 million in 1Q17 from $22.7 million in 1Q16. The bulk of Yoma’s revenue was driven by the group’s consumer and automotive & equipment businesses, as well as from investment properties, which offset the lower revenue from its sales of residences and land development rights.

Revenue from the group’s non-real estate businesses recorded a 37.2% growth to $9.6 million. The group’s Case New Holland business contributed $5.6 million or 58.6% of its non-real estate revenue. The group’s fleet leasing business expanded to 359 vehicles under lease with growing demand from organisations expanding their operations in Myanmar. The group’s KFC business also continued its growth momentum with two new stores openings in April and June which brought the total store count to six as at end of June 2016.

Other income increased to $11.8 million in 1Q17 from $1.6 million in 1Q16, mainly driven by the fair value gain of $10.3 million from the group’s telecommunications towers investment.

Administrative expenses increased to $12.6 million in 1Q2017 as compared to $8.4 million in 1Q2016. The increase was mainly due to higher staff cost.

“The real estate market remained sluggish but is seeing signs of recovery, and we have received encouraging feedbacks from our recent launch of the townhouses in Pun Hlaing Estate,” says Melvyn Pun, CEO of Yoma.

“The real estate market remains a bit uncertain as the new government introduced its policies for the sector, although there are signs of a recovery from last year’s slow down. I am confident that the long term outlook for the country and its economy, and in turn, Yoma Strategic, remains bright.”

Yoma last traded at 60 cents on Monday.

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AA REIT posts 1Q DPU of 2.75 cents

The manager of AIMS AMP Capital Industrial REIT (AA REIT) has announced a DPU of 2.75 cents for the 1Q ended June, unchanged from the same period a year ago.

Gross revenue came in at $29.2 million in the first quarter, thanks to a property tax refund of $1.1 million. Net property income improved by 1.0% to $20.4 million compared to a year ago while distribution to unitholders was $17.5 million.

CEO Koh Wee Lih of AIMS AMP Capital Industrial REIT Management Limited, AA REIT’s manager, says: “We increased net property income with proactive asset and lease management focused on managing cost while maintaining prudent gearing of 33.1%, and continued on our strategy to unlock organic growth from our portfolio. Our redevelopments at 30 & 32 Tuas West Road and 8 & 10 Tuas Avenue 20 are tracking on time and budget and will further grow our portfolio value upon completion.”

As at end June, approximately 67% of AA REIT’s redevelopment at 30 & 32 Tuas West Road has been completed. Upon completion, the property will boost annual rental income four-fold to $4.15 million which is already 100% pre-committed. Meanwhile, demolition work at 8 & 10 Tuas Avenue 20 will be completed by end of this month, with the target completion in 2H of 2017.

In its outlook, AA REIT, which has a diversified portfolio of income-producing industrial real estate located throughout the Asia Pacific, will continue its proactive approach in managing its assets and leases to help navigate the short-term volatility and these challenging market conditions

Units of AA REIT closed 0.3% higher at $1.465.

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MapletreeLog, PLife, Yoma, Noble, Katrina, Fortune REIT

Here are some stocks that could move the market this Tuesday morning:

Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT) has posted a distribution per unit of 1.85 cents for 1QFY2017, unchanged from the DPU declared in 1QFY2016. For the quarter to June, revenue rose 5.3% to $89.6 million with the full contribution from three properties acquired in Australia, Vietnam and Korea in FY2016. The group also recognised revenue from the completed extension building in Moriya Centre in Japan and higher revenue from existing properties in Hong Kong. Units in MLT closed at $1.06 on Monday.

Parkway Life REIT (PLife REIT) has declared a 2Q DPU of 3.01 cents, which is 10.2% lower than the DPU of 3.35 cents a year ago. This was due to the absence of one-off distribution of divestment gain recorded for the corresponding period in 2015. PLife REIT closed 1.59% higher at $2.55 on Monday.

Yoma Strategic posted a 28.6% drop in 1Q earnings to $1.8 million from $2.6 million a year ago. Revenue fell 22.4% to $17.6 million from $22.7 million. This revenue was largely driven by the Group’s Consumer and Automotive& Equipment (Non-Real Estate) businesses and its rental revenue from investment properties, which offset the lower revenue from its sales of residences and land development rights (LDRs). Yoma closed at 60 cents.

Noble Group says valid acceptances for 6.3 billion shares and excess applications for 5.1 billion shares representing 95.7% and 78% of the total rights shares available for application were received at the close of the rights issue on July 21. As applications were received for a total of 11.4 billion rights shares out of the 6.5 billion rights shares available for subscription, Noble’s rights issue was 173.7% subscribed. Shares of Noble closed 1.8% lower at 17 cents.

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SGX Singapore Opening Market Update : Epic Research Singapore

SINGAPORE share prices opened lower on Tuesday with the Straits Times Index down 18.59 points or 0.63 per cent to 2,911.26 as at 9.01am. Wall Street closed lower overnight.

Top losers in early-morning trade included UOB and DBS.

Some 55.7 million shares worth S$60.6 million changed hands, with losers outnumbering gainers 70 to 54.

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SGX Singapore Closing Market Update : Epic Research Singapore

CAUTION reigned on Monday ahead of central bank meetings in Japan and the United States this week.

Singapore stocks finished 0.5 per cent lower in the session, with the Straits Times Index dropping 15.5 points to 2,929.85.

About 923.6 million shares worth S$941.5 million in total changed hands, which worked out to an average unit price of S$1.02 per share.

The most actively traded counter was Annica Holdings, which was flat at S$0.001 with 51 million shares changing hands. Other actives included QT Vascular and Spackman Entertainment.

Losers outnumbered gainers 229 to 172, or about four down for every three up.

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SGX Stock Recommendations : Epic Research Singapore

MARKET UPDATES :

• The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 4.87 points or 0.17% higher to 2945.35, taking the year-to-date performance to +2.17%.

• The top active stocks today were Singtel, which gained 1.66%, DBS, which declined 0.06%, Wilmar Intl, which declined 0.97%, UOB, which gained 0.26% and ComfortDelGro, with a 1.73% fall.

• The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index declined 0.84%, while the FTSE ST Small Cap Index declined 0.24%.

• The outperforming sectors today were represented by the FTSE ST Telecommunications Index, which rose 1.48%.

• The two biggest stocks of the Index – Singtel and StarHub – ended 1.66% higher and remained unchanged respectively.

• The underperforming sector was the FTSE ST Oil & Gas Index, which slipped 1.45%. Keppel Corp shares declined 1.43% and Sembcorp Industries declined 0.35%.

• The three most active Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) by value today were : Nikko AM Singapore STI ETF (-0.33%) ,SPDR Gold Shares (+0.21%) ,DBXT MSCI Taiwan ETF (-0.59%).

• The three most active Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) by value were : Ascendas REIT (+1.61%) ,Suntec REIT (-2.52%) ,CapitaLand Commercial Trust (-1.28%)

• The most active index warrants by value today were : HSI23800UBeCW161229 (unchanged) ,HSI22000MBeCW160929 (-0.95%) ,HSI22400UBeCW161028 (+1.50%)

• The most active stock warrants by value today were : DBS MB eCW161031 (-6.86%) ,OCBC Bk MBeCW161004 (-6.98%) ,OCBC Bk MBeCW170118 (-6.25%).

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Singtel, Raffles Medical, ZICO, Lum Chang, Rowsley, Lian Beng

Here are some stocks that could move the market this Monday morning:

Optus Business, the enterprise division of Singtel's Australian subsidiary Optus, has announced a new three year ICT services agreement with insurer QBE Australia that will see Optus deliver voice, mobile and data network services for them. The new contract supports voice and data services connecting more than 4000 QBE end users across 42 locations throughout Australia using the Optus network. Although the actual value of the contract was not disclosed, Optus says the new agreement is a “multi-million dollar deal”. Singtel last closed at $4.30.

Raffles Medical Group's earnings rose 4.5% to $16.7 million in the second quarter ended June 30, 2016, from $15.9 million in the previous corresponding quarter. Revenue grew 19.8% to $119 million in 2Q from a year ago. All divisions contributed positively, with revenue from Healthcare Services and Hospital Services increasing by 42.2% and 7.9% respectively. Raffles Medical closed 1.25% higher at $1.62 on July 22.

ZICO Holdings Inc. announced that ZICO Capital has been granted a capital markets services (CMS) licence by the Monetary Authority of Singapore on July 13. The licence will allow ZICO Capital to conduct the regulated activity of advising on corporate finance. ZICO Holdings closed flat at 28 cents.

Lum Chang Holdings announced wholly owned subsidiary, Lum Chang Building Contractors, has won a $60.8 million contract to build a 14-storey high-specification industrial building and provide asset enhancement woks to three existing buildings from by DBS Trustee on behalf of Mapletree Industrial Trust. Shares of Lum Chang closed unchanged at 36 cents.

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What's weighing on banks’ profitability in 2Q?

In 1Q2016, shares in DBS Group Holdings, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp and United Overseas Bank were reeling on concerns of a surge in non-performing loans (NPLs) triggered by rising interest rates, slumping commodity prices and an uncertain economic outlook in China.

As banks head into their 2Q2016 reporting season, bank stocks have recovered somewhat, but they have not reached their 1Q2016 highs. One reason is that commodity prices have recovered somewhat, and another is that China appears to be muddling along. More importantly, with Brexit and volatile job numbers in the US, there is a growing consensus in the market that major central banks around the world will keep monetary policy looser for longer.

Yet, that could hurt earnings at the local banks, which are due to begin reporting their 2Q2016 financial results this coming week.

Net interest income (NII) contributes more than half of the banks total income, and all three of them did fairly well in 1Q2016 because of wider net interest margins (NIMs).

However, the three-month Swap Offer Rate and three-month Singapore Interbank Offered Rate have been sliding since 1Q2016. That could mean tighter NIMs weighing on NII at the banks.

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Frasers Commercial Trust’s Microsoft extension a window of opportunity

OCBC Investment Research is keeping its “buy” recommendation on Frasers Commercial Trust (FCOT) and raising its fair value estimate to $1.45 from $1.42 previously.

“One major development which took place during the quarter was Microsoft’s decision to extend its current lease at Alexandra Technopark (ATP) for another five years,” says OCBC lead analyst Andy Wong Teck Ching in a Monday report.

Microsoft occupies 78,000 sq ft of space at ATP, which is 7.4% of ATP’s net leasable area. The original lease, which would expired in FY2017, has now been extended to FY2022.

“Looking ahead, we believe rental reversions are likely to moderate, as FCOT’s average passing rent for its expiring leases in Singapore are now close to market rents,” he adds.

OCBC says FCOT’s 3Q results came in within expectations.

Distribution per unit (DPU) grew 2.6% to 2.41 cents, while gross revenue increased 11.1% to $38.6 million, and net property income (NPI) increased 15.6% to $28.1 million.

As at 11.25am, units of Frasers Commercial Trust are trading flat at $1.34.

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SGX Singapore Opening Market Update : Epic Research Singapore

SINGAPORE share prices opened higher on Monday with the Straits Times Index up 8.61 points or 0.29 per cent to 2,953.96 as at 9.10am, following a Wall Street rebound on Friday.

US stocks had rebounded after dipping on Thursday following a nine-day march. Telecom and utilities sectors, each rising 1.3 per cent, had led the Wall Street march on Friday.

US crude fell 56 cents or 1.2 per cent to settle at US$44.18. Brent was down 51 cents or 1.1 per cent at US$45.69.

Some 64 million shares worth S$85 million changed hands on Singapore bourse, with gainers outnumbering losers 102 to 56.

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