Stocks to watch: CapitaLand, Pteris, VIT, Grand Banks Yachts

CORPORATE news is likely to drive trading activity here on Tuesday morning, amid a lack of catalysts and a retreat on Wall Street overnight.

CapitaLand

CAPITALAND Vietnam has entered into a joint venture with Saigon Commercial & Tourism Corporation, a subsidiary of Vietnamese developer Thanh Nien Corporation, to develop a prime site in District 2 in Ho Chi Minh City, for an estimated project value of US$55 million.

Pteris

PTERIS Global, a provider of integrated airport facility equipment globally, has secured contracts worth S$64.2 million from customers in China and the US.

Viva Industrial Trust

Viva Industrial Trust (VIT) reported a 2.4 per cent decline in distribution per stapled security (DPS) for the third quarter ended Sept 30 to 1.647 cents, due to enlarged DPS base following the issuance of 80.3 million new stapled securities in June. But distributable income rose 15.1 per cent to S$11.6 million and net property income for the quarter rose 29.6 per cent to S$12.5 million, driven by additional rental contribution from Jackson Square and Jackson Design Hub, and higher rental and other income from Technopark@Chai Chee.

Grand Banks Yachts

GRAND Banks Yachts managed to swing to a net profit of S$1.2 million in the first quarter ended Sept 30, from a net loss of S$1.3 million in the year-ago period. Following restructuring efforts after a major acquisition, gross profit margin jumped to 24.5 per cent from 9.5 per cent over the comparative periods.

Singapore shares close lower ahead of expected Wall Street weakness

WEAKNESS in the Dow futures on Tuesday outweighed slight gains in Hong Kong and China, bringing pressure to bear on the Straits Times Index (STI). The selling accelerated in the late afternoon after Europe opened in the red, with the result that the STI finished 30.54 points or one per cent lower at 3,052.53 in low volume of 1.3 billion units worth S$953.5 million.

Of this, S$683 million or 68 per cent came from trading in the 30 index stocks and stripping out the latter, the average value per unit traded was S$0.29. Excluding warrants there were 132 rises versus 285 falls.

The STI had risen for four consecutive days before Tuesday, gaining about 64 points, largely driven by promises of more stimulus from central banks in Europe, China and Japan.

However, with the US Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) meeting this week, and even though no rate hike is expected at the meeting, brokers said that markets have switched into cautious mode since the FOMC may offer clues as to when the rate hikes might begin.