Maybank Kim Eng has the conviction that the stock market is still going strong and has identified some cyclical stocks that are expected to outperform at this later stage of the upcycle. According to report, Maybank is positive on sectors such as banking, developers, industrials, consumer as well as the tech sector. Overall the economy is expected to continue to grow steadily, and when considering the prospects of a stock, analysts took into consideration the economic backdrop of a rising interest rate, higher residential property prices, as well as rising consumer confidence due to the overall growth in the economy. Another development in the regional economy includes the exponential growth in e-commerce in ASEAN which is beneficial for companies to expand their customer base and reach ou

My view: S'pore-1Q18-Wrap-Up: Theme: Good-value-at-current-level 1. Personally, I am of the view that S'pore market offers value at the current moment because it is trading at -1SD PB. 59% of the 1Q18 results were in line, with circa 15% surprising on the upside. Our 2018 market EPS growth forecast has been raised to 10.1% (from 8.0%) on upgrades in the bank and aviation sectors. We are selective after the outperformance of the FSSTI, which is trading close to mean valuations. 2. UOBKH Research is selective in his S'pore picks. He reckon 2018 FSSTI target of 3,710 after latest revisions. Our current themes include multi-year growth drivers, reflation picks, quality laggards and stocks with earnings surprises/specific catalysts. In the large-cap space, we like DBS, OCBC, Kepp

November launch for first batch of HDB flats in new Tengah estate THE first batch of 1,500 Housing Board flats in the new Tengah estate will be launched in November, Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong announced on Sunday. He shared the details in a post on his blog, Housing Matters, where he said that the flats will comprise “a good mix across different flat-types”. Over the next few years, there will be a steady stream of flats in Tengah, which is Singapore’s first new town in more than 20 years since Punggol, he added. When completed, Tengah will grow to about 700 hectares, which is roughly equivalent to Bishan in size, he added. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Will Oxley pull off its property launch blitz? HAVING made a splash overs

1.  SPH Reit  --  6th Apr 20182.  SPH  --  10th Apr 20183.  M1  --  16th Apr 20184.  Soilbuild REIT  --  16th Apr 20185.  Kep DC Reit  --  16th Apr 20186.  Kep Inf Trust  --  16th Apr 20187.  Kep T&T  --  17th Apr 20188.  Kep-KBS US Reit  --  17th Apr 20189.  First REIT  --  17th Apr 201810.  Kep Reit  --  18th Apr 201811.  Ascott Reit  --  18th Apr 201812.  Kep Corp  --  19th Apr 201813.  FrasersCom Trust  --  20th Apr 201814.  SGX  --  20th Apr 201815.  CapitaMall Trust  --  20th Apr 201816.  MapletreeInd Trust  --  23rd Apr 201817.  Ascendas

The calls to go “long” on the property sector have been going on for a while now. While investors tend to go for blue chip property counters the like of City Developments and UOL Group, these “obvious” choices have all seen a run-up in their share price ever since the sector bounced back from its doldrums, leaving behind laggards and more obscure counters that are waiting for value to be realised. Amara Holdings Amara Holdings is principally engaged in property development, as well as hotel investment, management and operation. The home-grown group operates four hotels under the Amara brand – 2 in Singapore, 1 in Bangkok and another in Shanghai. On the domestic front, slower growth in the supply of new hotel rooms mean that the company may ride along the trend of higher revenue

Alpha fund, CDL tie-up put two office assets on the market AIMING to cash in on the upturn in the Singapore office market, Alpha Investment Partners and City Developments Ltd (CDL) are understood to have put Manulife Centre in Bras Basah Road, and 7 & 9 Tampines Grande up for sale through separate expressions of interest exercises. The total price tag of the two assets exceeds S$1 billion, The Business Times understands. The vendors are looking at prices in excess of S$550 million for Manulife Centre, which works to about S$2,270 per square foot based on the 11-storey commercial building’s net lettable area (NLA) of about 242,000 sq ft. The building has retail space on street level and offices above. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Mapletree partners major

With more than two-thirds of the Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI) having reported, the first-quarter earnings season will enter the home straight next week. Genting Singapore (SGX: G13) will be the first blue chip to report next week. In February, the integrated resorts owner lifted its dividends, even though earnings fell 17%. It said that it had seen a stronger underlying performance from the leisure and hospitality segment, thanks to higher business volume. Singapore’s second-largest bank, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (SGX: O39), will also report on Monday. The bank soundly beat analyst estimates in the fourth quarter, when it posted a 31% jump in net profits. It said it had seen sustained growth momentum in banking, wealth management and insurance. But will it be able to compl

With STI now leading the race as Asia’s top performing market index, the market is starting to be concerned about overvaluation. However, there are still some blue chips that have yet to hit its peak. Here are four blue chips that Daiwa Capital Markets thinks will continue to prosper and help investors make alpha return in the second half of 2018. Investors Takeaway: 4 Blue Chips That Will Prosper In 2H18 DBS Group Holdings Combination Of Growth And Yield Play Among regional banks, the “earnings-per-share” growth outlook looks the most compelling for Singapore banks. According to Daiwa, Singapore banks have the highest EPS growth outlook in the region. Within the Singapore banks, DBS Group Holdings (DBS) is the runaway leader for its EPS growth. Apart from growth, DBS is also emer

Performance of Straits Times Index (STI) Constituents in April 2018 The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 185.96 points or 5.42% higher to 3613.93 in April 2018.(compared to 3427.97 on 29-Mar-2018)Top Performers: Hutchison Port Holdings Trust, DBS Group, ComfortDelGro, Thai Beverage, UOB. Least Performers: Venture Corp, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, ST Engineering, City Developments, Jardine Matheson. Most Volatile: Venture Corp, DBS Group, Genting Singapore, Hutchison Port Holdings Trust, UOB. Advertisement Continue Reading »

From a top-down investment approach, Daiwa Institute of Research recommends taking positive positions on emerging markets for three reasons: Gradual Fed policy normalisation; Strong commodity and trade cycles; and deep valuation discount. These three reasons will drive the Asian reflation story. There are four sectors that Daiwa highlights as the inflation group: Financials, energy, materials and consumer discretionary sectors. Daiwa notes that these sectors are displaying superior earnings momentum than the general market. Among the Asian markets, Daiwa is positive on the Singapore economy as recent data suggests the Singapore economy remains in good shape. Daiwa believes that the positive momentum will persist through 2018 as trade-driven economic growth broadens to services and other do

There are many ways to find investment ideas. Some useful ways are to screen for stocks or to look at a list of stocks near their 52-week lows to sieve out potential bargains. Studying what institutional investors have been buying or selling is another avenue. Institutional investors are typically large investment organisations, such as hedge funds, mutual funds, unit trust companies, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies and so on. These investors tend to possess vastly greater resources than individual investors like you and me when researching stocks. Hence, it may be useful to keep a close eye on what they are doing, as a way to generate ideas. In this article, I will look at three Singapore stocks that have seen the highest net sales in dollar value by institutional investors fo

According to CIMB, Building and Construction Authority (BCA) projects that the value of construction contracts awarded this year is expected to rise. Mega infrastructure projects like North-South Corridor, Changi Airport Terminal 5 and KL-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) and a slew of enbloc projects looking to relaunch will drive demand for the services of construction companies. CIMB expects construction companies to ride on the demand to replenish their order books. For investors looking for exposure to the construction sector, here are five small-cap construction plays you should know. Investors Takeaway: 5 Small-Cap Construction Plays You Should Know Yongnam Holdings Yongnam Holdings (Yongnam) is currently awaiting a potential order from Melbourne Metro, which Yongnam’s managemen

Analysts make light of March fall in developers’ home sales MARCH private home sales dived almost 60 per cent from a year ago – but industry players are unfazed, citing a dearth of new launches as the main cause. Sentiment remains buoyant and, with the slew of launches rolled out this month and more to come, buyers are expected to be drawn out; developers and their marketing agents will be kept busy. There were only two new launches last month – The Tapestry in Tampines and 8 Hullet off Cairnhill Road. Developer City Developments’ project, The Tapestry – the bigger of the two projects – moved 329 units in March at a median price of S$1,408 psf. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Rivercove Residences EC units 80% sold at average S$965

Following consolidation in STI’s trading range, DBS believes that a breakout is expected to happen in the next 1-2 months. DBS notes that STI will break out from its 3400-3500 range. However, the directional breakout will depend on the outcome of the US-China trade skirmish and the upcoming earnings season. How should investors navigate the month of April? According to DBS, there are three investment strategies that investors can consider for the month of April. Investors Takeaway: 3 Investment Strategies To Adopt In April Hedging Against Inflation Low inflation has long been a concern in the market. However, DBS believes that inflation could rise steadily, leading to a market re-focus on inflation. This is primarily driven by the Fed raising 2019 interest forecast by 20 basis points (

Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) are the people that run companies, make critical operational decisions that impact everything from employee morale to balance sheet health to futures business direction. This job usually comes with immense pressure to perform and long-hours to get the work done. Obviously, this job is not for the faint-hearted. This also often means that they are the most handsomely paid employee in the company. In this article, we look at how much the biggest listed companies in Singapore, those on the Straits Times Index (STI), paid their CEOs in FY2017. CEO Salary In FY2017 Three companies did not divulge the remuneration of their chief executive – Jardine Matheson Holdings; Jardine Strategic Holdings; and Hongkong Land. Also Read: How Much Money Do You Actually Take

Time flies, and we are already in April! And as we enter into a new month, it is also time to update ourselves with the Alpha Picks of the month selected by UOB Kay Hian. March was not a great month for the STI as it slipped 2.6 percent month on month due to rising concerns of a trade war and also due to the rising interest rates environment. However, there’s some good news for investors as most of the Alpha Picks selected did better than the STI in March. Going into April, UOB Kay Hian is focusing on the “defensives”, adding Sheng Siong into their basket with expectations of stronger growth in 2018. Singtel is also another one of their “Buy” stocks due to the geographical diversification of their business which reduces volatility.   Here is a closer look at the various Alpha S

First quarter of 2018 has passed in a blink of an eye. I thought it would be interesting to look at STI and have a good sense how the STI blue chips are doing, especially when we just had some volatility in Feb and Mar this year.Source: Business Times, 31 Mar 2018Based on the table above, I noticed thatFive companies are at a price level of 75th percentile or higher based on their past one-year price range: City Developments, Venture Corp, DBS, OCBC and UOB. Among these, Venture at $28.11 is the closest to its 52 week high, owing to its recent inclusion into STI and the continued optimism on electronic manufacturing sector.Seventeen companies are now within 25% of their one-year lowest price. This is more than half of the 30 components of STI. Among them, Hutchison Port Holdings ($0.295) a

There has been a spate of en-blocs and government land sales that has happened over the last 1 year. Launches of new condominiums are sprouting up here and there as developers try to take advantage of the positive sentiment in the market and capture buyers. The present property environment suggests that developer, investor and buyer sentiment is on a mend, reflected in an uptick in the URA’s property price index since mid 2017. Are you looking to enter the market to get your first, second, or possibly tenth property? In this post, I compile a list of new condominium launches that are slated to enter the market in 2018. List of new condominiums launching in 2018 The Tapestry Verandah Residences 8 Hullet Amber 45 Grange 120 The Enclave Holland Parksuites at Holland Grove Margaret Vill

The Singapore private property market seems to be in a recovery mode, after a four-year bear market. Flash estimates by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) released on Monday, 2 April, showed that private home prices in Singapore rose by 3.1% in 2018’s first quarter when compared to the preceding quarter. This is the steepest quarter-on-quarter increase since the second quarter of 2010. The latest statistic follows the turning point reached in the URA property price index in the third quarter of 2017. For those who believe in the long-term potential of properties here in Singapore, this could provide an opportunistic time to invest. However, not many may be able to fork out hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash to pay the down payment for an investment property. For those who stil

Another drop in OCBC today and once again, my student got the job done. Shorted 20 lots at 12.67 and covered at 12.60 for some very good 30 min trade with $1480 profits. The bank stocks are very weak at the moment while the pennies are not moving much. I am pleased to see the market breaking more and further because it presented some good opportunities for shorting. Look at OCBC, in the 5 minute chart, it gap down from top and had some struggles moving higher and hence an short sell trade was executed. I am pleased to see more profits for those who learnt trading from me. Congrats! :)On the other hand,I received more trade records from students who trade many other counters like Hi-P, CityDev and Sembmarine where he made some and lost some while some others also traded US stock like Facebo