Singapore's STI +0.2%; 3,060-3,100 range likely

Singapore’s STI is up 0.2% at 3,081.89, shrugging off economic growth warnings. “In terms of the World Bank and the IMF cutting forecasts, I don’t think there’s anything new unless they’ve been sticking their head in the sand for six months,” says Song Seng Wun, head of research at CIMB, adding the question is whether the slowdown will accelerate.

He adds, local shares may be getting a fillip from Hong Kong and China shares’ gains as mainland markets resume trading post-holiday. “At this point, (traders are) waiting for either stimulus measures or liquidity to be added back to (China’s) economy. All these things tend to add a little more life to the market.” He says, “perhaps we also took heart from the fact that the European Stability Mechanism is being put in place,” noting “that might help to stabilize the wobbly European boat. Anything that might seem to be helping contain a bad situation from getting worse is to be cheered.”

Volume is anorexic, skewed by penny-play action, at 589.3 million shares valued at $260.7 million; gainers top losers 1.7 to one. The 3,060-zone likely offers support, while 3,100 offers resistance. Transcu is up 26.7% at $0.019 with 43.7% of shares traded on its second day of resuming trade. Within the STI, Jardine Matheson and Jardine Strategic are down 2.4%-4.1%, retracing some of their recent gains. Heavyweight SingTel is up 0.6%.