Singapore shares rose by midday, but gains were capped by losses in rig builders Keppel Corp and Sembcorp Marine, hurt by falling oil prices after Tropical Cyclone Sandy dampened U.S. oil demand.
By 12:21 p.m., the benchmark Straits Times Index climbed 0.3% to 3,038.58 points, while the MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.1%.
Keppel, the world’s largest rig builder, lost 1.8% at $10.63, with over 5.2 million shares traded, making it the most actively traded stock by value. Smaller rival Sembcorp Marine fell 1.9% to $4.68.
Brent crude slipped below US$109 ($133) a barrel on Tuesday as Tropical Cyclone Sandy shut East Coast refineries, roads and airports, reducing crude and fuel demand in the world’s largest oil consumer.
Eu Yan Sang International, which makes traditional Chinese medicine products, fell 4.7% to $0.61, after DMG & Partners downgraded it to ‘sell’ and cut its target price to $0.57 from $0.74, citing lower-than-expected quarterly earnings.
Eu Yan Sang said its first-quarter net profit dropped 92% to $0.3 million from a year ago, due to higher operating expenses and a loss in its Australian unit.
DMG said the company’s poor results were also due to softer retail sales growth in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. The brokerage cut its 2013 and 2014 earnings estimates by 41 and 21% respectively, on expectations of weaker sales and higher costs from the opening of new stores.
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