Daily Market Watch - 20 September 2012

SINGAPORE

Genting Singapore (GENS) is selling its entire 4.8% stake in Echo Entertainment Group, the Australian gambling company for appx. A$131.7M (Dow Jones).

Cosco Corp Singapore (COS) price estimate was lowered to S$0.83 from S$0.87 at Daiwa Securities.

US markets closed slightly higher on Wednesday. On the US economic data front, MBA Mortgage Applications for the week ended September 14th dropped 0.2%, Housing starts rose 2.3% MoM in August (+2.8% expected) and Building permits decreased 1% for the period of August (-1.9% expected) according to data released by the US Commerce Department. Finally, existing home sales for the period of August increased 7.8% according to the National Association of Realtors (+2.0% expected). Stocks in the automobiles & components and media sectors traded higher while shares in the energy and commercial professional services sectors were under pressure. Regarding some major US company news, PulteGroup (PHM +4.25% to $16.43), KB Home (KBH +3.62% to $13.16), DR Horton (DHI +4.07% to $22.22), Toll Brothers (TOL +3.47% to $36.41), Lennar (LEN +1.88% to $36.26) gained on the back of good statistics for the housing sector in August. Separately, Autozone (AZO +3.35% to $369.84)'s 4Q EPS was $8.46 vs $8.4 expected and $7.18 a year ago. Net sales increased 4.6% YoY to $2.8B. After the US market close, Adobe Systems (ADBE) posted a 3Q ADJ EPS of $0.58 vs $0.59 expected ($0.55 a year ago) on revenue of $1.08B vs $1.10B expected ($1.01B a year ago). Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) reported a 2Q EPS of $0.98 vs $1.02 expected ($0.93 a year ago).

In Europe , euro zone construction output decreased 0.3% in July after falling 0.6% in June. Minutes of the last meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee in UK showed that all members agreed to maintain their bond-purchase target in September and also agreed to hold benchmark interest rate at 0.5%. Regarding the stocks, Inditex gained ground on better than expected results. This morning, the Nikkei225 index opened lower.

CHINA - HK

73.1% of 49 of Chinese dual-listed firms disclosed internal control flaws in their 2011 financial statements, China Securities Journal reported, citing a report from the Ministry of Finance and China Securities Regulatory Commission.

China 's Commerce Ministry could unveil details of its export-stimulus plan this month, Economic Information Daily reported, citing a spokesman at the Ministry.

Hong Kong 's August composite interest rate was 0.39%, slightly down from 0.4% in July.

Hutchison Whampoa (13): EU Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said Hutchison Austria-Orange Austria deal needs "effective remedies" to address competition concerns.

Glencore International (805) agreed to buy a stake in an oil field development owned by Griffiths Energy in Chad for $331M.

ZTE Corp (763) plans to introduce smartphones powered by Windows Phone 8 and by a new mobile operating system it developed with Mozilla.

Genting Hong Kong (678) does not plan to sell its stake in Echo Entertainment Group and will still seek regulatory approval to raise its stake beyond 10%.

Telefield International (1143) has entered into a subscription agreement with Fargo Telecom Holdings Ltd to buy 53% of the enlarged issued share capital of Fargo Telecom at a consideration of HK$15M in cash. "Telefield also agrees to purchase up to 42.3% of the enlarged share capital of Fargo Telecom in subsequent stages, subject to a cap of HK$20M."

Evergrande Real Estate (3333) was downgraded to "neutral" from "outperform" at Credit Suisse.

Yanzhou Coal Mining (1171) was lowered to "underperform" from "neutral" at Macquarie .

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