GLP shares plunge after report

Ahead of a long weekend here, Singapore shares ended on a glum note even though the Dow futures, which the index tracks closely, was up 20 points minutes before trading ended.

Dragged by the combined nine-point loss in shares of heavyweights Global Logistic Properties (GLP), DBS Bank, Genting Singapore and ComfortDelGro, the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) wrapped up yesterday's session at 3,209.47 after losing 6.08 points or 0.19 per cent.

Gains in shares of OCBC Bank, Singtel and Jardine Matheson helped soften the blow. Some 1.6 billion units worth $1.1 billion changed hands, which comes to an average unit price of about 70 cents. Excluding warrants, losers beat gainers 219 to 166.

Across the region, Asian indices were a mixed lot. Tokyo's Nikkei, South Korea's Kospi and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index made gains while Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended the day flat.

Back home, the stock of GLP - among the most active - contributed to a five-point index loss, ending the day at $2.84 after losing 16 cents, with over 59 million units traded.

The warehouse owner's stock had dived at the opening bell - a reaction that came after a Financial Times report said that almost all potential bidders for GLP's business are dropping out, ahead of a June 30 deadline for proposals.

In a mid-day filing, GLP said that a strategic review is "being undertaken independently and the company has undertaken measures to alleviate potential conflicts of interest and ensure fairness of the process".

Also on the actives list was Catalist-listed Sincap Group, which finished at $0.018 after gaining $0.002, with 119 million shares traded. The group had said last week it would sell its entire stake in subsidiary Beijing Raffles Investment Advisory for $10 million to Advanceleap Corporation.

Gains in shares of OCBC Bank, Singtel and Jardine Matheson helped soften the blow.

Shares of Noble Group rose 7.5 cents to end at 53 cents after news that Arab-linked group Goldilocks Investment Company had bought 50.5 million shares in the commodities trading firm, boosting its stake in Noble from 1.18 per cent to 5.03 per cent and making it a significant shareholder.

Next week, China's manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) is expected on June 30.

Moody's Analytics said: "The official manufacturing PMI likely cooled to 51.1 in June, down from 51.2 in May", as the economy has peaked for now.

The pullback, it added, seems natural because of a soft patch in the global tech cycle and various policy measures that have looked to tighten lending.

On the global front, Lyxor Asset Management has said it expects the US Federal Reserve to begin its balance-sheet reduction later this year.

"The reduction game plan was clarified this June, and could be triggered at the September meeting," it noted, pointing out that this would allow the Federal Open Market Committee to hold on to hiking rates until December.

It also said the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan could initiate their tapering only in the next year and 2019 , respectively.

Citi Research said in its economic outlook that global growth remains on track and it has once again slightly revised up its 2017 forecast to 3.1 per cent.

This article appears in The Business Times today. For full listings of SGX prices, go to btd.sg/BTmkts