From: NetResearch Asia Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2013 Subject: Summers withdrawal positive to market sentiment Pre-Market Open Commentary for 17 September 2013 ( CO. REG. NO. 199904258C ) DJIA: 15,494.78 +118.72 Nasdaq Composite: 3717.85 -4.34 Good morning, fellow investors Concerns over the possibility of the Fed easing on its bond buying programme retreated yesterday on news that Lawrence Summers withdrew his name from the race to become the next Federal Reserve chairman. Known for his hawkish stance, Mr Summers was previously the Treasury secretary and economic adviser to President Barack Obama, and was critical of the central bank's quantitative easing measures. The news just before the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) kicks off its two-day meeting. Also hitting headlines was the Empire State manufacturing index which fell unexpectedly to 6.29 in September, after August's reading of 8.24. The new orders index climbed to 2.35 from 0.27, while shipments jumped to 16.43 from 1.47. Nasdaq was partly affected by selling in Apple on news that China Telecom will not subsidise its customers for the iPhone 5S as much as previous models. This is also amidst reports that reception to the pricing of the iPhone 5C has also been muted. Crude futures fell back after news of an agreement between the U.S. and Russia to halt a potential military strike against Syria. This helped ease earlier concerns over the possible disruption to supply. Crude for October delivery fell US$1.62 to US$106.59 per barrel. In Singapore today: Asian stock markets surged yesterday on news that Lawrence Summers withdrew his candidacy for the Federal Reserve chairman job. Asian stock markets rose led by the Hang Seng index that gained about 1.5 percent. At closing, the STI index rose 59.18 points at 3179.48 points. For every stock that fell about 1.8 rose. Turnover was 3.6bil shares with a value of $1.7mil traded. Given the Asian markets had already risen yesterday on the Summers news, expect a tepid reaction today to Wall Street's overnight rise. The Singapore bourse will also be affected by news reports of slower property sales amidst the credit pullback and also a looming higher interest rate environment. Talks of short covering helped lift Singapore stocks like City Developments, Jardine Matheson, Jardine Strategic, Jardine C&C, Keppel Corp, M1, SGX, UOB, OCBC Bank, Thai Beverage, Noble Group, Semb Marine and Semb Corp that rose between 6 cents and $1.9. Datapulse shares rose 1.5 cents at 25 cents after it proposed a capital reduction exercise that will see shareholders receiving 3.5 cents per share without any cancellation of shares. Elsewhere, shares of AP Strat, GRP, Ossia, CAN, Rex Intl, Halcyon, Jaya, Sinarmas, Mirach, MoneyMax, Yongnam and Int’l Healthway eased between half and 4 cents. |