STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Market gains as banks, Genting Singapo

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07-08-2013 12:19:02
STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Market gains as banks, Genting Singapore advance

Singapore shares edged up, led by United Overseas Bank
and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp , while Genting
Singapore rose as some brokers highlighted the casino
operator's overseas expansion plans.
Shares in Genting Singapore advanced 1.5 percent after the
company's second-quarter core profit rose 5 percent, though this
came in below market forecasts. Volume in Genting shares rose to
22.5 million shares versus the average full-day volume of 20.9
million traded over the past five days. [ID:nSNZ6J4pCj]
"We believe the Japan opportunity, if and when materialized,
could provide significant upside to the stock price," Citi
analysts said. The research house reiterated its "buy" rating on
the stock and said Genting shares had little downside risk at
current valuations.
The broader stock market bucked a weak trend in Asia, with
the benchmark Straits Times index <.FTSTI> up 0.3 percent.
Singapore Telecommunications , which reports results
next week, gained 1.3 percent.
The outlook for Singapore company earnings remains bleak,
with Singapore facing big downgrades in analysts' forecasts,
data from Thomson Reuters StarMine shows.
Analysts have cut the forward 12-month earnings estimates on
Singapore companies by 2.2 percent on average over the past 30
days, the worst after Korea. On average, analysts have
downgraded earnings estimates for Asia Pacific by 0.6 percent.

(Reporting by Anshuman Daga; Editing by Supriya Kurane)
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Keywords: MARKETS SINGAPORE STOCKSNEWS/