Macroeconomic factors affecting STI April 4th week

• Japfa's Indonesian unit PT Japfa Comfeed incurred a net loss in 1Q2015, an outcome that the Singapore-headquartered company said will have "a substantial adverse" impact on its own results for the quarter.
• China's stock-index futures in Singapore erased losses from late trading Friday as a move by the central bank to cut reserve ratios overshadowed new rules on using leverage for stock trading.
• CapitaMall Trust's 1Q2015 results marked "a good start" to 2015, and the REIT is likely to maintain a moderate pace of rental reversion for leases that are expiring this year.
• The first three months of every year is typically a strong period for Singapore banks following a seasonally weak fourth quarter, but loan growth in 1Q2015 could have been much weaker than what even the lenders themselves had expected.
• The first three months of every year is typically a strong period for Singapore banks following a seasonally weak fourth quarter, but loan growth in 1Q2015 could have been much weaker than what even the lenders themselves had expected.

• Standard Chartered has a strong business case to move its headquarters from London to Singapore and save millions in taxes as, unlike HSBC , it doesn't have a banking network in the UK.
• Noble Group has denied media reports that it repeatedly avoided questions from minority shareholders during its AGM.
•  Singapore's annual industrial production is expected to have declined in March, a Reuters poll showed, though output is seen rising month-on-month with some optimism that signs of improving exports will underpin a struggling manufacturing sector.
• Singapore Reinsurance Corp's net profit for the 1QFY15 ended March declined 26.3% to $3.6 million from $4.9 million last year.
•  Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) is exploring the possible spin-off and listing of its subsidiary, Q & M Aidite International, on another stock exchange.
• Singapore's factory output fell for the second straight month in March, with production in most manufacturing clusters lower.
• YuuZoo Corp has formed an equal joint venture with Africa's largest television network to launch a virtual mall targeted at consumers in Nigeria and beyond.
• Private residential prices in Singapore fell in 1Q2015 for the sixth straight quarter, a sign that potential home buyers and investors were still deterred by various measures put in place by the government to rein in property prices and discourage excessive borrowing.