Singapore shares slipped to a two-month low by midday, in line with other Asian bourses as investors shifted their focus to concerns about the fiscal crisis in the United States after the re-election of President Barack Obama.
By 1:21 p.m., the Straits Times Index fell 1.1% to 3,010.79 points, the lowest level since September 11, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 1.2%.
Singapore Telecommunications retreated 0.6% to $3.19, after its associate Bharti Airtel posted poorer-than-expected second-quarter core net profit, which CIMB Research said was due to an unexpected surge in depreciation and higher interest expense in Africa.
Singapore Technologies Engineering said its third quarter net profit rose 9% from a year earlier, and CIMB Research raised its target price for the firm to $3.97 from $3.87, citing higher margin expectations.
“ST Engineering stands out from its peers that are suffering from margin compression and earnings contraction,” said CIMB in a report, as it kept its ‘outperform’ rating and forecast a 7% annual growth in earnings till 2014.
ST Engineering was down 2.2% at $3.52, but has surged 30.9% since the start of the year, compared to the Straits Times Index’s 13.8% gain.
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