US markets reopened for trade and moved within the narrow 13000-13275 near-term band that talked about earlier. Question is in which direction it will move out of this band. Reaction to economic data for the rest of the week (e.g. ISM manufacturing, non-farm payrolls), the outcome of next week's US Presidential election and corporate earnings will play a part. Technically, we tilt more to a downside break because the Dow's 15-day exponential moving average appears on the verge of cutting below it 65-day exponential moving average, which is typically viewed with caution.

For Singapore, this week thus far has led to a further downward revision for STI forward earnings. The 13.3x (-0.5SD) FY13F PE is now 3057; 26pts lower compared to 3083 complied just last week. Unless there is upward revision from here, it's getting more likely that the STI will head lower this month to the 2985 or even 2930 as the 'declining growth-inflation pressure' concern continues to weigh on sentiment even as the year-end lull period arrives.

China's Oct manufacturing PMI crossed into expansion territory of 50.2 from 49.8 the previous month.

3Q12 earnings of Rp257.9bn for Indofood Agri Resources were ahead of expectations. FY12F/13F/14F earnings are adjusted by 1-2% as our analyst cut sugar planting from 2k ha to 0.5k ha this year and adjusted sugar ASP slightly higher. Despite stronger 4Q12 sugar contribution, weak CPO ASP and high costs may continue to drag next year's performance. Maintain HOLD, TP slightly raised to S$1.26 (Prev S$ 1.25). Wait for next year's earnings recovery.

SMRT 2Q13 net profit within expectations with marginal 2% drop; 1H13 accounts for 50% of our FY13F. EBIT margins dropped 1.7ppts on higher operating costs. Lower interim DPS of 1.5 Scts declared was not a surprise, down from 1.75 Scts in 1H12, due to higher capex. Maintain Fully Valued with TP at S$1.50. SMRT is trading at above mean valuations, which is unwarranted.

Sound Global has secured a BOT contract worth RMB98m in Hancheng City, Shaanxi Province. This would raised YTD announced construction work of BOT projects to about RMB485m. Our update with Sound Global indicated that the company has maintained current orderbook at around RMB2.5b. This implies Sound Global has won RMB600-700m of new orders in the past quarter, which puts it on track to meet our FY12 new win forecast of RMB1.7b. We believe this project will contribute positively to FY13 earnings and beyond. For the upcoming results on 12 Nov, we expect net earnings of RMB139.4m for 3Q12. This represents 6% y-o-y and 19% q-o-q growth.

United Envirotechis acquiring an 80% stake in a wastewater treatment and reclamation plant with total capacity of 90,000 m3/day in Qitaihe City, Heilongjiang, China for RMB92m. Based on the unaudited financial statements of Qitaihe Co for the 12 months ended 31 December 2011, the NTA attributable to the 80% Interest was approximately RMB61m.

Arrium Limited, an Australian listed steel and iron producer announced it had rejected a revised acquisition proposal from a consortium consisting of Noble, POSCO, National Pension Service of Korea, Korea Investment Corporation and Korea Finance Corporation. The revised cash offer price was at A$0.88 per share up from the previous offer of A$0.75. This values Arrium at A$1.2bn and based on consensus estimates, implies a FY13F and FY14F PE of 7.2x and 3.9x. It was also reported that the consortium will cease seeking engagement with the Arrium board, thus no change to our numbers but we are currently reviewing our numbers for Noble pending review of 3Q12 commodity prices and trade data.

AusGroup has secured fabrication work with Subsea 7, a seabed-to-surface engineering, construction and services contractor to the offshore energy industry worldwide. The contract is for the fabrication of post metrology subsea spools for the Chevron-operated Gorgon Project. Preparation work will commence immediately with the six-month fabrication program starting in late 2013. With this contract award, AusGroup's order book now stands at A$280m.

Ying Li is proposing to issue Singapore dollar-denominated bonds to partially refinance the S$200m 4.0% convertible bonds due 2015 and for other outstanding borrowings and general corporate purposes.

Bank loans growth slowed to 0.7% m-o-m, as sluggish economic activity dampened the expansion of business loans. Domestic banking unit loans edged higher to $472.3 bn by the end of September, slower than the 2.3% growth in August. In year-on-year terms, loans growth slowed for a 10^th consecutive month in September to 16.5%, down from August's 19.2%. Business loans barely expanded over the month, inching 0.3% up to $274.5 bn, after a 3% increase in August. Compared to a year ago, total business loans grew 17.5% - its slowest pace since February 2011 and slower than August's growth of 22.3%. Consumer loans growth held steady, supported by robust wage growth and continued activity in the property market. Total consumer loans reached $197.8 bn by the end of September, rising 1.4% from August and 15.1% from last September. This was similar to August's 1.3% m-o-m and 15.1% y-o-y growth.

Unemployment rate in Singapore remains low, at 1.9% in September, dipping from 2% in the previous quarter, near its all-time low of 1.7%. But this was largely due to a tightening of labour supply brought on by the squeeze on foreign workers. Meanwhile, fewer jobs are being created as economic weakness starts to bite while layoffs jumped to a new post-recession high.

Source: DBSV