Reuters: Hot Stocks: STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Stocks rise, Neptune Orient gains

Reuters: Hot Stocks Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Stocks rise, Neptune Orient gains Mar 27th 2012, 04:11 Tue Mar 27, 2012 12:11am EDT Singapore shares marched higher by midday as Asian markets strengthened following upbeat comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on monetary policy. The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) was up 0.8 percent at 2,998.5, rebounding from Monday's 0.5 percent fall. "Bernanke's words that monetary policy will be loose will provide a short term catalyst for the markets. Overall the trend is upwards but it's going to be slow for the rest of the year," said a trader. OCBC Investment Research expects to see the STI testing its recent high of around 3,030, which it hit a week ago. Container shipping firm Neptune Orient Lines was among the top gainers on the index and rose 2.2 percent after Credit Suisse rated the company as an outperform. Asian stocks rebounded on Tuesday following Bernanke's remarks. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.0 percent. 1210 (0410 GMT) (Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore; charmian.kok.thomsonreuters.com) ************************************************************ 11:29 STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Citi ups target prices for rigbuilders In addition to orders from Brazil's Petrobras, Singapore rigbuilders such as Keppel Corp Ltd and Sembcorp Marine Ltd will benefit from oil prices at current levels, as more exploration and production activity underpins the sector, Citigroup said. The broker raised its target price for Keppel to S$12.80 from S$12.00 and for Sembcorp Marine to S$6.10 from S$5.90, but said Sembcorp is better positioned to secure more than six rig orders from Petrobras, due to economies of scale. Citi also noted that crude oil prices at $125 a barrel are at a sweet spot and should encourage more exploration and production spending, and may further tighten rig availability. Citi raised its target price for Sembcorp Industries Ltd to S$6.00 from S$5.83, and kept its buy rating on all three companies. Shares of Keppel Corp, the largest rigbuilder, were up 1.2 percent at S$10.89, while smaller rival Sembcorp Marine's shares were up 0.8 percent at S$5.27. Sembcorp Industries rose 0.6 percent to S$5.18. Sembcorp Marine and Sembcorp Industries have outperformed a 24 percent rise in the FT ST Oil&Gas index so far this year, while Keppel has underperformed. 1115 (0315 GMT) (Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore; charmian.kok.thomsonreuters.com) ************************************************************ 10:29 STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Credit Suisse rates NOL as outperform Credit Suisse set an outperform rating on Singapore container shipping firm Neptune Orient Lines Ltd (NOL) and raised its target price to S$1.85 from S$1.20. NOL's shares were up 2.2 percent at S$1.405 and have gained 25 percent so far this year. Credit Suisse said with 71 percent of NOL's revenues and 53 percent of volumes generated from long-haul markets, the company has significant exposure to rising freight rates. It said if NOL hits its target of realising $500 million in cost savings this year, there will be an additional $180 million of potential net profit after tax for the company. "Not only will rising earnings and per share metrics drive NOL's stock price higher, in our opinion, but so too will swelling valuation multiples," Credit Suisse said. On average, analysts have upgraded NOL's earnings per share estimates by 5.1 percent for this year over the past 30 days, Reuters data shows. 1010 (0210 GMT) (Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore; charmian.kok.thomsonreuters.com) ************************************************************ STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Swiber rises on contract win Shares of Swiber Holdings Ltd jumped as much as 6 percent after the offshore services firm won a $273 million contract in the Gulf of Mexico. Swiber was up 4.5 percent at S$0.70, with 18 million shares traded in the first 25 minutes of trade. It was among the top five traded stocks by value. Volume was 2.5 times the average daily volume traded over the last five sessions. "The Gulf of Mexico is new turf for Swiber, which has been focusing on Asian waters. This contract has raised Swiber's market position in the offshore construction industry," CIMB said in a report and maintained its outperform rating with a target price of S$0.79. Swiber's order book has risen to $1.3 billion with the latest contract, and CIMB said it expects the company to secure more smaller contracts in Asia over the next six months. Swiber said the contract, awarded by an oil major from the Gulf of Mexico, involves offshore construction works for the procurement, transportation and installation of pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico. For a related story, click: 0925 (0125 GMT) (Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore; charmian.kok.thomsonreuters.com) ************************************************************ 09:07 STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Nomura starts STX OSV as reduce Nomura initiates coverage of Singapore-listed offshore vessel builder STX OSV Holdings Ltd with a reduce rating and a target price of S$1.68. STX OSV's shares have risen 53 percent so far this year to close at S$1.78 on Monday. "Although the outlook for the company and the offshore support industry remains relatively positive, order book replenishment remains a concern," Nomura said in a report. The broker said new contracts secured so far this year only accounts for 10 percent of Nomura's order win assumptions. It said STX OSV's valuations also look lofty, as it is trading at 8.7 times its 2012 forward price-to-earnings ratio, the high end of its historical PE band of 4-9 times. Out of 12 brokers tracking the stock, 11 have a buy or strong buy and one has a hold rating. For a related story, click: 0857 (0045 GMT) (Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore; charmian.kok.thomsonreuters.com) ************************************************************ STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Singapore index futures rise Singapore index futures rose 1 percent, indicating a strong start for the benchmark Straits Times Index. The Nikkei share average was up 1.6 percent, while Korean shares gained 0.9 percent, buoyed by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's signal for supportive monetary policy. 0839 (0039 GMT) (Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore; charmian.kok.thomsonreuters.com) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions