The weaker-than-expected US March jobs number and the still developing situation surrounding H7N9 in China should result in a short-term pullback for the STI. However, unless the bird flu situation worsens into an epidemic, STI should hold at 3250-3267 with focus returning to corporate results and economic data. Fortunately, there is thus far no evidence of human-to-human transmission for H7N9. We maintain our 3600 fundamental objective by year-end that is supported by technical as well.

Our analyst sees near term downside risks for Wilmar. Though he continues to monitor the mass culling of poultry flocks in China and thus far, there is no significant impact on soybean crush margins, however, he expects 1Q13 Palm & Lauric pretax to drop q-o-q on weaker Indonesian refining margins. FY13F/14F/15F earnings were cut by 8%/8%/4% after imputing lower palm oil refining margins. Maintain HOLD call, target price reduced to S$ 3.72 (Prev S$ 3.88) as there is no major near term re-rating catalyst. Despite near-term challenges, Wilmar' long term growth outlook is intact led by recovering CPO prices, expansion in branded consumer, sugar origination and investments in Africa.

Ascendas Hospitality Trust (AHT) is buying the Park Hotel Clarke Quay from Park Hotel Group for S$300m, its first acquisition of a property in this Southeast Asian financial center. After acquiring the 330-room hotel, located in Clarke Quay, Ascendas will lease the property back to Park Hotel Group for an initial 10-year term, with an option to extend for an additional five years. The deal will lift Ascendas' portfolio size by 29.1% to S$1.4 billion, and cost the trust about S$8m in acquisition-related fees. Ascendas plans to fund the purchase with debt and equity. AHT currently has 10 hotels located in Australia, China and Japan.

Park Hotel Group, which has just announced the sale of its Park Hotel Clarke Quay to Ascendas Hospitality Trust, is understood to have put some of its other hotels on the market as well. Industry players say these include its two remaining Singapore hotels - Grand Park City Hall in Coleman Street and Grand Park Orchard (along with its retail podium Knights bridge). The group is said to be seeking more than $1 billion for the latter asset or a whopping sum in the high-$1 million range per room - which if achieved would reprice the Singapore hotel market, according to industry players.

Interra Resourceshas completed its second producing well in a Myanmar oil field and will begin to drill a third. The YNG 3251 well in the Yenangyaung field currently produces a stable 96 barrels of oil per day (bpd) by pump. Drilling began on March 4. Interra has also begun digging a new well, YNG 3252. The new well will be drilled to a depth of about 3,150 feet and completion is estimated at six weeks.

ISDN Holdingssigns a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with China Huadian Engineering, one of China's large and leading state-owned power and industrial play. The two companies have reached an in-principle agreement to collaborate on energy-related projects in South-east Asia.

Temasek Holdings is going big into the liquefied natural gas (LNG) business - including potentially investing and participating in upstream LNG projects, as well as downstream in LNG storage and regasification terminals, LNG trading and shipping. It has just set up Pavilion Energy, with an initial authorised capital of $1 billion, to partner leading industry players to source LNG for customers in Singapore as well as in growing Asian markets. The move comes just as the multi-billion-dollar Singapore LNG terminal is ramping up for full operations this quarter. The Jurong Island terminal will allow Singapore to import LNG from anywhere in the world for power stations and industries here, thus helping it to diversify gas supplies currently piped from neighbouring Indonesia and Malaysia.

Source: DBSV