Daily Market Watch - 1 October 2012

SINGAPORE

Singapore may further slow down the inflow of foreign workers said Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin on his official blog.

Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX) proposed scaling up the proportion of shares available to retail investors in IPOs.

SMRT Corp (MRT) said it has sold S$450M of fixed-rate bonds.

US indices fell on Friday pressured by technology hardware & equipment and semiconductors & semiconductor equipment sectors. On the US economic data front, University of Michigan Confidence index for September fell to 78.3 (79 expected) from 79.2 in August, personal spending rose 0.5% in August (+0.5% expected) while personal income increased 0.1% (+0.2% expected) according to the US Commerce Department. Regarding US stocks, Bank of America (BAC -1.56% to $8.83) will pay $2.43B to settle the Merrill Lynch "class action lawsuit brought in 2009 on behalf of investors who purchased or held Bank of America securities at the time the Co announced plans to acquire Merrill Lynch". The Co expects its 3Q results to be impacted by $1.9B. In other news, Accenture (ACN +7.11% to $70.03) posted 4Q EPS down 3.3% YoY to $0.88 (as expected) on revenue of $6.8B, up 2.2%. Separately, Research In Motion (RIMM +5.04% to $7.5) unveiled 2Q LPS of $0.45 (adjusted LPS of $0.27 vs a LPS of $0.47 expected) vs EPS of $0.63 a year earlier. After the US market close, United States Steel (X) has ratified new 3-year collective bargaining agreements with its United Steelworkers-represented employees covering 16,000 employees.

In Europe, German retail sales increased by 0.3% in August on a monthly basis, in line with expectations. U.K. Consumer Confidence in September rose one point from August to -28. In France , the GDP for second quarter was confirmed flat. French consumer spending was down by 0.8% from a month ago, reversing an increase of 0.4 percent in July. Regarding stocks, Electrocomponents plunged after saying full-year profit will miss projections. This morning, the Nikkei225 index opened lower, and is now below its key moving averages.

CHINA - HK

China market closed during October 1-5 for Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day.

Hong Kong market closed during October 1-2 for Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day.

Total deposits with authorized institutions in Hong Kong rose 1.0% MoM in August according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. Hong Kong-dollar deposits grew 1.5% MoM, overall foreign-currency deposits rose 0.4% in August with yuan deposits declining 1.9%.

Hong Kong 's M1 Money Supply rose 8.7% YoY in August vs +5.9% in July, and M2 grew 8.6% vs +5.1%, according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

Sino Land (83) has acquired, jointly with K Wah International Holdings (173), a residential land parcel in Hong Kong 's Tsang Kwan O area at bid price of HK$2.3B according to the government. Separately the Co won a land parcel on Peng Chau Island for HK$31M.

New China Life Insurance (1336) said Chairman Kang Dian bought 20K H-shares of the Co at an average price of HK$24.275 per share on September 28, raising his H-share holding to 50K shares.

China Merchants Holdings (International) Co (144) said it has agreed to acquire from its parent group a 46.7% property interest in the Ocean Centre located in Shenzhen city's Nanshan district for 465M yuan.

Guangzhou Shipyard International Co (317) issued a profit warning saying it would swing to a 3Q net loss from a net income of 145M yuan a year earlier.

Geely Automobile (175) said Zhejiang Haoqing Automobile Manufacturing Co Ltd, which the Co sold and purchased certain vehicle products, is conducting a voluntary recall of 55K vehicles of "Geely Kingkong" and "Geely Jin Ying" models in China due to fuel box problems.

Parkson Retail Group (3368) announced Chew Fook Seng will retire and will be succeeded by Tan Hun Meng, currently the Co's COO of Southern Region.