Tue May 15, 2012 11:57pm EDT
Singapore shares slid to a near four-month low by midday, dragged by losses on Olam International's stock after it reported worse-than-expected quarterly earnings.
The failure of Greece to form a government added to worries about the future of the euro zone, triggering selling in riskier assets. Asian shares were also lower, with the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 2.5 percent.
Singapore's main Straits Times Index was 1.3 percent lower at 2,839.74, its lowest since January 20, with commodity trading company Olam being the worst performer.
Olam shares plunged 10.3 percent to S$1.795 by midday, as analysts warned of cuts to full-year estimates after the commodity trader reported disappointing earnings and flagged a weak outlook.
"There could be more downside ahead, sentiment due to external factors is one thing, but on the corporate front in Singapore, we have seen a very poor first quarter, and valuations will need to come off," said Andrew Chow, head of research at UOB Kay Hian.
Chow said equity markets became too frothy earlier this year and are now selling off to factor in slower growth expectations.
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1147 (0347 GMT)
(Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore; charmian.kok@thomsonreuters.com)
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DMG & Partners Securities cut its price target on mushroom grower Yamada Green Resources Ltd to S$0.30 from S$0.32 and maintained its buy rating.
Yamada shares have risen around 8 percent so far this year.
Yamada's third-quarter net profit of 82 million yuan ($13 million), below DMG's projected 97 million yuan, was due to wet weather that affected mushroom yield, as well as higher costs of production.
DMG reduced its earnings estimates by 11 percent for Yamada's 2012 fiscal year to 162 million yuan and by 12 percent for 2013 to 176 million yuan.
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1119 (0319 GMT)
(Reporting by Eveline Danubrata in Singapore; eveline.danubrata@thomsonreuters.com)
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10:58 STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE: Property shares fall on policy concerns
Shares in Singapore developers such as CapitaLand Ltd fell after persistently strong property data added to worries that the government may introduce more measures to cool the housing market.
CapitaLand, Southeast Asia's largest property developer, lost as much as 2.2 percent at S$2.63, while smaller rival City Developments dropped 2.1 percent to S$10.04.
New private home sales in Singapore stayed strong for the fourth consecutive month, rising nearly four percent in April from March, data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) showed.
"Demand stays unabated even as the government continues to flood the system with supply, most recently releasing five sites yielding 2,100 units," said CIMB Research in a report.
The broker noted that April's new private home sales of 2,487 units was the highest since July 2009. It is underweight residential developers and has an underperform rating on CityDev but an outperform on CapitaLand.
"We believe the strong volumes and increasingly speculative trend, in our opinion, will not sit well with policy makers," said CIMB.
Another broker Maybank Kim Eng said while the secondary market and the high-end segment in the primary market remain subdued, exuberance persists in the mass market.
It believes policy risks are still elevated and expects property prices to correct by 10 percent by the end of 2013.
Kim Eng advised investors to avoid Singapore-focused residential developers and said its top picks are retail property stocks such as CapitaMall Trust and CapitaMalls Asia, followed by diversifed companies including CapitaLand and Keppel Land.
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1044 (0244 GMT) (Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore; charmian.kok@thomsonreuters.com)
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08:46 STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Index futures down 0.6 pct
Singapore index futures were 0.6 percent lower, indicating a negative opening for the benchmark Straits Times Index.
Asian shares fell on Wednesday after Greek politicians failed to form a government, setting the stage for a June election that could raise the risk of Greece abandoning the euro and deepening the euro zone's debt crisis.
0839 (0039 GMT)
(Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore; charmian.kok@thomsonreuters.com) ($1 = 6.3182 Chinese yuan) (Editing by Michael Perry)
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