Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Commodities advance to highest this year as oil to gold rally

[NEW YORK] Commodities climbed to the highest this year as oil extended gains on speculation the glut in the US will ease.
The Bloomberg Commodity Index of 22 raw materials rose as much as 0.4 percent to 105.1778, the highest since Dec. 31, and was at 105.1007 by 1:10 pm in Singapore. West Texas Intermediate crude extended its advance above US$60 a barrel after closing on Wednesday at the highest level since December. Gold rose as higher energy prices boosted speculation US inflation will start to pick up.

Raw-material prices have rebounded about 9 percent since reaching a 12-year low in March as crude rallied, the dollar fell and speculation increased that China may add to stimulus. The gains in energy were spurred as US drillers idled rigs. The BCOM gauge has still plunged more than 50 per cent from its record in 2008, after a decade-long bull market encouraged farmers, miners and oil producers to ramp up supplies.

"We're seeing commodities now respond to lower prices and that's generally across the board, not just oil," Jonathan Barratt, the chief investment officer at Ayers Alliance Securities in Sydney, said by phone. "Investors are starting to rethink the supply story and the US dollar will probably weaken dramatically over the course of the next two quarters."

SGX should revive its IPO 'upsizing' strategy

ALMOST 10 years ago in July 2005, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) announced a bold, rebranding strategy aimed at attracting larger companies to list in the Republic.
Its head of listings back then borrowed a term from fast-food chain McDonald's, saying the goal was to"upsize" its companies.. Continue at- businesstimes.com.sg

Monday, May 4, 2015

Brokers' Take: 'Buy' calls on OCBC follow its Q1 results

"BUY" calls have been placed on OCBC shares following the release of the bank's first-quarter FY2015 earnings results.
Maintaining its "buy" call on the stock, RHB Research said it had met expectations but loan growth and net interest margin slippage was disappointing.

"Still, we maintain BUY with a S$11.70 target price (10 per cent upside) as OCBC is making progress with its Greater China strategy, as evident by its improved funding position and growth of its wealth management and treasury businesses. Also, its asset quality remains solid," said RHB Research.

It added that actual integration of OCBC Wing Hang's China operations is expected to start in the second half of 2015, and this would provide a further catalyst for growth.

Singapore: Stocks weaken in low volume

THE Straits Times Index (STI) was pushed up by about 11 points in the final seconds of trading last Thursday, April 30, so it came as no surprise that on Monday, the first trading day of May, the index spent most of the day in the red and eventually ended a nett 4.69 points weaker at 3,482.7.

It also came as no surprise to see penny stock interest continue to dwindle - turnover done was a weak 1.5 billion units worth S$1.02 billion for an average of S$0.68 per unit traded, more than twice the value a month ago. The dollar value done in the STI's 30 components was S$279 million, about 27 per cent of overall business.
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As for the broad market's performance, weakness in the index usually means softness all round - and this was borne out by an advance-decline score of 178-287 excluding warrants.
Brokers were not surprised at what was in truth a lethargic session with few redeeming features. The banks for example, enjoyed divergent fortunes - DBS and OCBC fell while UOB rose.