Reuters: Hot Stocks: STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Focus on defensive plays-Citi Private Bank

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STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Focus on defensive plays-Citi Private Bank Jul 3rd 2012, 06:27 Tue Jul 3, 2012 2:27am EDT Citi Private Bank recommends being defensive in investments, which means keeping a lower-than-usual proportion of funds in equities and sticking to domestic-orientated sectors in Indonesia and Malaysia. "We will continue to have macro headwinds, but below those macro headwinds, we will see micro opportunities," John Woods, Hong-Kong based chief investment strategist for Asia Pacific at Citi Private Bank, told a media briefing in Singapore. On a sector level, the private bank favours consumer staples, such as food producers and basic retailers, and consumer discretionary sectors including gaming companies, auto producers and some of the luxury goods providers. "It plays to the urbanisation of Asia and it also plays to this focus at the policy level to promote domestic consumption away from export-led growth," said Woods. On an overall country level, Citi Private Bank has an overweight on Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan, is neutral or market weight on Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand and underweight on China, India and South Korea. Gains in the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand stock markets have made them among the world's best performing bourses so far this year. Persistent fears about the euro zone's future and an increasingly subdued global economy will restrain further advances for the world's major stock markets, according to Reuters polls of analysts, who slashed their forecasts. 1350 (0550 GMT) For the Reuters poll, click (Reporting by Anshuman Daga in Singapore; anshuman.daga@thomsonreuters.com) *********************************************************** 11:56 STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Shares extend gains for 5th session Singapore shares rose by midday, extending gains for the fifth straight session, as weak manufacturing data around the world spurred hopes that central banks could introduce more measures to help support the global economy. At 0341 GMT, the benchmark Straits Times Index was up 0.9 percent at 2,936.74, led by strong gains in palm oil firm Golden Agri-Resources, which rose 2.9 percent to S$0.705. "There's a spillover euphoria from what happened in Europe. The market may be anticipating that the European Central Bank could cut rates," said Joshua Tan, a strategist at Phillip Securities. Many market players also believe continued economic weakness will push the Federal Reserve to roll out another round of quantitative easing. U.S. manufacturing contracted for the first time in nearly three years, while in the euro zone the jobless rate rose to a record high in May. Asian factory activity was also hit by crumbling orders from abroad. Shares of TT International extended losses on Monday, falling 9.7 percent to S$0.065 after it said plans to develop a warehouse retail project in Singapore had been cancelled. 1146 (0346 GMT) (Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore; charmian.kok@thomsonreuters.com) ************************************************************ 11:23 STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Midas at 1-month high on JV deal win Shares of Midas Holdings Ltd rose as much as 5.2 percent to a one-month high after it said its joint venture had won a 860 million yuan ($135.46 million) contract for the supply of metro train cars. By 0151 GMT, shares of Midas were up 3.5 percent at S$0.30. They have fallen about 9 percent since the start of the year, compared with a 1.7 percent rise in the FT ST China Index . Midas, which supplies aluminium components to trains in China, said its joint venture Nanjing SR Puzhen Rail Transport Co Ltd (NPRT) won the contract to supply 20 train sets, or 120 train cars, to Dongguan Rapid Railway R2 Line Project over 2013 to 2015. Midas, which owns 32.5 percent of NPRT, could see a potential contract win worth 30-40 million yuan and recognise an income of about 6-10 million yuan from NPRT, said DMG, which has a 'neutral' rating and target price of S$0.29 on the stock. The brokerage added that this could result in total profit of 10-14 million yuan, which will be recognised progressively from fiscal 2013-2015. For related statement click 0958 (0158 GMT) (Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore; charmian.kok@thomsonreuters.com) ************************************************************ 9:17 STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-OCBC raises CapitaMalls target price OCBC Investment Research raised its target price of CapitaMalls Asia Ltd to S$1.79 from S$1.76 and kept its 'buy' rating, citing stronger valuations for the shopping mall developer's China assets and listed entities. By 0103 GMT, CapitaMalls shares were 0.6 percent higher at S$1.59, and have surged about 40 percent since the start of the year, compared to the Straits Times Index's 10 percent gain. CapitaMalls said on Monday it had set up a $1 billion private equity fund. OCBC said the fund would be an option for capital recycling going forward, and could be a potential joint venture partner for future developments, giving CapitaMalls bigger scope for capital allocation for acquisitions. "CapitaMalls' valuation remains undemanding, and we see significant upside as its asset pipeline transitions into an income-generating portfolio over 2012," OCBC said in a report. 0906 GMT (0106 GMT) To read related story, click (Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore; charmian.kok@thomsonreuters.com) ($1 = 6.3488 Chinese yuan) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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