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STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Golden Agri wallows near 3-year low, weighs on index
Golden Agri-Resources Ltd dropped nearly 2 percent to match a three-year low, as the company is expected to release lacklustre results later in the week, putting pressure on the index.
Golden Agri fell for the second straight day, after its subsidiary PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology Tbk announced a 28.5 percent drop in net profit in the first six months of the year on Wednesday.
"Assuming Golden Agri's 2Q results follows the same trend as SMART's, we project the group to report a net profit of US$55m-60m in 2Q13 and US$168-173m for 1H13," CIMB said in a research note.
The company reported a net profit of $108.1 million in the second quarter of 2012.
Golden Agri was headed for a 20 percent decline year to date, compared with a 2.3 percent rise in the Straits Times Index. The shares fell 1.9 percent to match Wednesday's trough of S$0.515, the lowest in more than three years.
The Straits Times Index rose half a percent, after having given up some earlier gains.
Shares in Singapore Press Holdings Ltd dropped more than 4 percent to a 3-1/2-week low, as investors sold shares after claiming a special dividend.
(Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Jijo Jacob)
*************************************************************** 09:54 STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-DBS hits 2-month high as earnings beat forecast
Shares in DBS Group Holdings Ltd rose to their highest in two months, heading towards their biggest daily rise in three weeks on better-than-expected quarterly results.
The biggest bank in Southeast Asia reported a 10 percent rise in quarterly profit, boosted by strong growth in loans and higher fees.
DBS shares rose as much as 2.3 percent to S$17.09 in early trade, among the top three performers on Singapore's Straits Times Index. The index was up 1 percent.
The bank gave up its bid on Wednesday to take a controlling stake in PT Bank Danamon Indonesia Tbk as Indonesia's central bank had only allowed it to take as much as 40 percent stake.
"The lapse of the purchase agreement between DBS and Fullerton (Temasek) to purchase Bank Danamon is a near-term positive catalyst in our view, as it removes uncertainty over capital and could result in higher dividends going forward," Barclays said in a research note.
Smaller rivals Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and United Overseas Bank Ltd rose more than 1 percent each.
"Singapore banks are defensive to potential liquidity tightening in Emerging Markets in Asia and are key beneficiaries from the rising interest rates in the medium term," Barclays said.
"However, we see a lack of near-term positive catalysts as strong loan growth will likely be offset by some margin pressure."
UOB is due to report later in the day and OCBC is expected to release its earnings on Friday.
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