SINGAPORE
Singapore 's foreign reserves stood at $246.18B in the end of August, up from $244.14B the previous month.
Ezra Holdings (EZRA) sold S$200M in 5% fixed rates notes, maturing in 2015 to refinance existing short-term debt.
Mapletree Industrial Trust (MINT) issued S$45M in 10-year fixed rate notes at 3.65% under its S$1B multi-currency medium term note programme.
Singapore Airlines (SIA)'s 49% owner Virgin Atlantic said its CEO Steve Ridway has stepped down from the Co.
Singapore Technologies Engineering (STE) said it is undertaking a restructuring of its unit ST Aerospace Solutions ( Europe ) A/S and plans to cut 300 jobs at its subsidiary.
Golden Agri-Resources (GGR): Moody's upgraded to Co's ratings to "Ba2" from "Ba3" due to "the continued strength of Golden Agri's operations and resultant credit profile, and its resilience through the global financial crisis". The rating outlook is stable.
US markets closed slightly higher on Friday. On the US economic data front, Nonfarm payrolls grew by a seasonally adjusted 96,000 (130K expected) in August, down from 141K jobs added the previous month according to the Labor Department. The unemployment rate dropped to 8.1% from 8.3% in July. Stocks in the diversified financials and materials sectors traded higher while shares in the semiconductors and food beverage & tobacco sectors were under pressure. Looking at some major company news, Intel (INTC -3.61% to $24.19) warned that its 3Q revenue should be below its previous guidance due to "weaker than expected demand in a challenging macroeconomic environment." Separately, The Cooper Companies (COO +8.49% to $93.33) announced for its 3Q a revenue up 8% YoY to $378M with an adjusted EPS of $1.45 from $1.15 a year ago. In other news, Ulta Salon (ULTA +6.59% to $101.54) posted for its 2Q net sales up 22% YoY to $395M with a diluted EPS up 42% YoY to $0.54.
In Europe, German industrial production gained 1.3% in July vs -0.4% in June. It was expected to be flat Germany trade balance was a surplus of E16.9B in July vs a surplus of E18B in June. Exports increased 0.5% while imports were up 0.9%. UK industrial production jumped 2.9% in July (+1.5% expected) vs -2.4% the month before. Regarding the stocks, Xstrata gained ground as Glencore increased its offer on the Co. Solvay was positively oriented as the Co will join France 's Cac 40 index. This morning, the Nikkei225 index opened broadly flat above its 50D MA.
CHINA - HK
China consumer prices rose 2.0% YoY in August, after a 1.8% YoY increase in July while producer prices fell by 3.5% YoY, vs -2.9% YoY in July.
China 's industrial production expanded 8.9% YoY in August, compared to a 9.2% YoY growth in July. On a year-to-date basis, industrial production was up by 10.1% YoY, vs +10.3% YoY in June.
China 's retail sales increased 14.2% YoY in August (as expected) vs +13.1% in July.
China 's non-rural fixed-asset investment gained 20.2% YoY in the January-August period (+20.4% expected), vs +20.4% in the January-July period.
China 's National Development and Reform Commission said it has approved 60 infrastructure projects worth more than 1T yuan. Separately Jin Liqun, Chairman of the Supervisory board of the China Investment Corporation said China 's economy can achieve its 7.5% target growth rate this year and expand at 7% or more for the next five years.
China 's property development investment grew 15.6% YoY to 4.37T yuan in the January-August period vs +15.4% for the January-July period. Commercial & residential property sales climbed 2.2% YoY to 3.40T yuan vs -0.5% for the January-July period, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
China plans to expand a subsidy program for purchases of energy-efficient products, including desktop computers, air conditioners, fans and water pumps and earmarked 14B yuan for the program, Xinhua reported.
China Development Bank re-launched a programme to develop asset-backed securities interrupted by the global financial crisis and sold 10.17B yuan of credit-backed securities on Friday (Shanghai Securities News).
Hong Kong 's foreign currency reserves climbed to $298.2B at the end of August from $296.2B at end-July.
Glencore International (805) delivered a merger proposal to the board of Xstrata. "The proposal envisages an increase to the merger ratio to 3.05 Glencore shares for every Xstrata share, changes to the proposed governance arrangements including Ivan Glasenberg to become CEO of the combined group and the ability for Glencore to structure the transaction as a takeover offer or as a scheme of arrangement of Xstrata. In order that Xstrata Independent Directors and Xstrata Shareholders may consider the proposed amended terms, a resolution will be proposed at Xstrata's Court Meeting and the New Xstrata General Meeting to adjourn the meetings to a date to be fixed and notified to Shareholders."
China Construction Bank (939): A shareholder is planning to sell 810 million H-shares of the Co at HK$5.18 each, Dow Jones reported.
China Pacific Insurance (2601) to issue 462 million new H-shares at HK$22.50 and raise appx. HK$10.4B in a private H-share placement. The proceeds from the proposed placing will be used to increase the capital base of the company and for business development.
Google Trend HK - popular searches: Anhui Conch Cement (914)
Cosco Pacific Limited (1199): ex-div HK$0.205
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