Singapore shares fell by midday, largely in line with regional bourses, but rig builder Keppel Corp bucked the trend after announcing a rig deal worth US$315 million ($396 million).
The Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> was down 0.5%, or 14.11 points, at 3,004.80. The MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.4%.
Keppel rose as much as 0.5% and were the fifth most actively traded stock by value. The rig builder signed a letter of intent to build a harsh-environment accommodation semi-submersible rig worth US$315 million.
"Should this LOI turn effective, which we think is highly possible, Keppel would have secured new orders worth about $580 million year to date," OCBC Investment Research said. It retained its buy rating on Keppel with a target price of $12.27.
Shares of palm oil firm Wilmar International fell as much as 1.6% and were the third most actively traded stock by value in the market. Citigroup downgraded Wilmar to hold from buy and cut its target price to $5.30 from $6.10.
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