STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Index down; Golden Agri falls after re

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05-08-2013 12:45:05
STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Index down; Golden Agri falls after result

Singapore shares fell on Monday, weighed by Southeast Asia's
biggest telecom firm Singapore Telecommunications Ltd
and port operator Hutchison Port Holdings Trust as
both stocks went ex-dividend.
The Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> was down 0.6 percent at
3,234.20 points, while the MSCI Asia-Pacific ex-Japan index
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> was flat.
SingTel shares declined as much as 3.3 percent, while
Hutchison eased as much as 3.9 percent.
Shares in Golden Agri-Resources Ltd fell as much
as 2.9 percent to S$0.51, the lowest since July 2010, after the
company posted a 58 percent fall in second-quarter net profit.
It was the second-highest traded stock by value in Singapore.
OCBC Investment Research sees a muted outlook for crude palm
oil prices as global demand, especially out of China and India,
remains weak and supply is expected to increase in the second
half of the year.
OCBC slashed its core earnings estimate for Golden Agri's
2013 fiscal year by 19 percent to account for increased margin
pressure. It downgraded the stock to "sell" from "hold" and cut
its target price to S$0.465 from S$0.57.

(Reporting by Eveline Danubrata; Editing by Supriya Kurane)
(([e-mail])([phone])(Reuters
Messaging: [e-mail]))

Keywords: MARKETS SINGAPORE STOCKSNEWS/MIDDAY