No change in our view for a choppy September and the STI range from 2930 to 3100. The immediate support and resistance levels are at 3000 and 3040 respectively. With recent economic data pointing to a global slowdown, the month continues to be driven by central banks actions.

According to Upstream, SembCorp Marine's subsidiary, SMOE, has secured a follow on contract for the Australia Pacific LNG project in Queensland, Australia. This will be a sub-contract, awarded by Bechtel, with similar work scope to the first contract awarded in Oct 2011, and hence, likely to have similar contract value of around US$100m-US$150m. Should this contract be awarded, this will further add to SMM's record S$9.1bn order wins in FY12 YTD, and boost its S$12.6bn orderbook further. Maintain BUY on SMM with target price of S$5.85.

Faced with the impact of the eurozone crisis on the aviation sector, ST Engineering unit, ST Aerospace is scaling down its Scandinavian operations and laying off some 300 employees at its facilities in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The "restructuring" of ST Aerospace Solutions (Europe) was necessary amid the continued challenging aviation landscape in Europe, marked by weak domestic travel and cargo demand in the region.

Kencana Agri is acquiring PT Karunia Alam Makmur for US$5.7m. The purpose of the acquisition is to increase the company's plantation land bank for development of new oil palm cultivations. The acquired company possesses the right to acquire plantation land in Morowali, Central Sulawesi.

In property news, the freehold Chateau Eliza on Mount Elizabeth is being sold through a collective sale for $92.2m to Newfort Realty, a consortium of private investors. The price works out to $1,743 psf ppr, assuming Newfort redevelops the 17,997 sq ft plot into a new project that matches the existing development's gross floor area (GFA) of 52,887 sq ft. The $1,743 psf ppr is said to be the highest for a residential collective sale since Westwood Apartments at Orchard Boulevard was sold for $2,525 psf ppr in late 2007. A 99-year leasehold mixed-development site near Potong Pasir MRT Station has attracted eight bids at an Urban Redevelopment Authority tender. The top bid - from a tie- up between City Developments unit Verwood Holdings and Hong Leong Group's Intrepid Investments - is $245m or $739.02 psf ppr. The 88,267 sq ft plot, along Tai Thong Crescent, is zoned for residential use with commercial space on the first storey.

China's consumer price index for August crept up to 2% compared with 1.8% in July, fuelled by higher domestic and international food prices. Production growth in August slowed again. The figure increased 8.9%, its weakest since May 2009, compared with 9.2% in July. Fixed asset investment grew 20.2% in August, little changed compared with the first seven months, showing that loosening measures implemented over past months have yet to be felt in the real economy. The market is expecting some government stimulus after August data.

Source: DBSV