Warrants Highlight

STI at 3000 - Trapped in the Tug-of-War

The first time when we had the excitement of STI breaching the 3,000 level was shortly after Valentine's Day this year. This was later followed by many other false breakouts including last week's brief stint, which saw the STI above the watermark on Wednesday, only to fall at Friday's final hour, back to 2,994.48. This brings many investors to question: Which side is winning the tug-of-war?

When is the next China cut?
Recent data has confirmed that the Chinese economy is slowing. Its annual growth rate fell to 8.1%, lowest in almost 3 years. Many economists are expecting that the Chinese government will announce more easing measures to help support the market. One of the most anticipated moves will be another round of cuts for the bank reserve-requirement-ratio (RRR). During the previous cut on 18th Feb, the Shanghai Composite Index rallied 3.5% in the following week.

Is the European wall thick enough?
Over the weekend, the IMF celebrated another milestone in its handling of the Eurozone crisis. G20 countries pledged an additional US$430bn to help contain the spreading of the debt crisis. While it is too soon to gauge the effects of the recent move, investors will be monitoring closely at the Spanish bond yield in coming weeks.

All eyes on US Fed Open Market Committee (FOMC)*
The week of April 23rd, the Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting is the clear focus. Updated economic forecasts from FOMC members are also due. Macquarie Economics Research (MER) expects the FOMC to reiterate the cautious optimism in the March statement, with employment and output gains slowing recently. Policymakers should also pay particular attention to easing headline inflation pressures. Barring rapid acceleration in activity in the coming weeks, MER expects this dynamic leaves the door open for more easing mid-year.

Mon 23 Apr: SG CPI (Mar)
Tue 24 Apr: PRC Leading Indicators (Mar), US Consumer Confidence (Apr)
Wed 25 Apr: US Durable Goods Orders (Mar), US FOMC Rates Decision
Thu 26 Apr: SG Industrial Production (Mar), US Initial Jobless Claims, US Pending Home Sales (Mar)
Fri 27 Apr: US GDP (1Q), US Personal Consumption (1Q), US U. of Michigan Confidence (Apr F)

Quick look at Singapore single stock warrants
Investors keen to take a leveraged view over single stocks in Singapore may wish to consider the list of warrants below for each respective single stock underlying.

Singapore Market Wrap

Momentary glee above 3,000

Raised forecasts on the global economy by the IMF coupled with better than expected Spanish bond sales helped Asian indices inch higher last week. The news helped send Singapore's STI above the 3,000 mark for the first time in two weeks during the week. While it finished six points under on Friday, the STI was nevertheless up 0.23% week-on-week (wow) at 2,994.48.

June Call STI 3000MBeCW120629 (P8BW) exercise level 3,000.*
June Put STI 2900MBePW120629 (P8CW) exercise level 2,900.*

Longer dated Call STI 3100MBeCW130131@ (PA7W) exercise level 3,100.*
Longer dated Put STI 2800MBePW130131@ (PA8W) exercise level 2,800.*

"No" on Danamon = "Yes" for DBS share price?
The biggest mover on the index was DBS, which was surrounded by a flurry of news during the week.

Last Tuesday was Danamon's announcement of its first quarter earnings, which rose 18% to US$98mn. The day after however, saw DBS fall 0.2%. DBS came under the spotlight again toward the end of the week, when Indonesia's deputy finance minister, expressed concern that Danamon as a national institution will be lost. The comments fuelled speculation that DBS' bid for Danamon may be hampered. Investors however, seemed to take well to the comments, buying up DBS by 1.5% in the last two days of the week.

DBS eventually finished up 1.7% wow at $13.71.

Call DBS MB eCW120702 (P0VW) exercise price $13.90.*
Call DBS MB eCW130102 (O9KW) exercise price $14.00.*
Call DBS MB eCW120803 (P5CW) exercise price $15.00*
Put DBS MB ePW120718 (P2NW) exercise price $12.80.*

Earnings season: Keppel Corp
Keppel Corp kicked off the start of the earnings season by announcing a 1Q12 net profit of $751mn, more than twice analysts polled on Bloomberg expected. Its real estate arm Keppel Land also posted its results, with 1Q net income rising 70% from a year earlier to $141.9mn.

Despite the positive results, Keppel Corp still found itself 0.6% lower wow, closing at $11.39 on Friday.

Call KepCorp MBeCW130103 (MV8W) exercise price $10.909.*
Call KepCorp MBeCW120801 (P1HW) exercise price $11.50.*
Long dated KepCorp MBeCW130603 (M8PW) exercise price $11.818.*

Overnight Market Wrap

SP500 First Weekly Gains in April

US stocks rose higher last week, as major companies reported better than expected earnings. The S&P500 index rose 0.6% week-on-week to 1,378.53. Last Monday, the Euro dipped bellow $1.30 on Spanish concerns, but managed to recover its losses and gained 1.1% over the week to $1.3219.

Germany's Ifo business climax index rose to a 9-month high of 109.9, beating analysts' expectations. The G20 nations pledged more than $430bn to strengthen IMF ability to ring-fence the European crisis. Ms Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of IMF, said that the move signalled the strong resolve of the international community to secure global financial stability and put the world economic recovery on a sounder footing.

Overnight Markets

Indices	Last	Change
STI	2994.48	-0.5%
HSI	21010.64	0.1%
DJIA	13029.26	0.5%
S&P 500	1378.53	0.1%
Nasdaq	3000.45	-0.2%

Corporate News

Corporate Announcements

Results Announcement
Fri 27 Apr: DBS 1Q12
Mon 30 Apr: CapitaLand 1Q12, IndoFood 1Q12
Wed 9 May: UOB 1Q12, SembMarine 1Q12

Ex-Dividend Date
Wed 25 Apr: Keppel Corp ($0.26), SembMarine ($0.20)
Wed 26 Apr: STX OSV ($0.10)
Fri 27 Apr: OCBC ($0.15)
Mon 30 Apr: Cosco ($0.03), Golden Agri ($0.0184), SGX ($0.04)
Fri 4 May: Wilmar ($0.031), IndoFood Agri ($0.003)
Mon 7 May: UOB ($0.40), CapitaLand ($0.08)
Wed 9 May: DBS ($0.28)