Major U.S. stock indexes rose more than 1 percent on Wednesday, after strong economic data calmed recession fears and helped halt a two-day sell-off.
Stocks and factors to watch.
- British telecoms giant BT Group said it agreed to buy Singapore IT firm Frontline Technologies for S$202 million ($140 million), as it seeks to boost its presence in Asia. While some market watchers said the move may boost stocks of IT infrastructure companies such as Silverlake Axis, CSE Global and ECS Holdings on hopes of similar acquisitions, others said the current credit market turmoil would dampen such activities. "We don't see a rush of competitors gobbling up smaller companies to expand their footprint. You've got a credit crunch right now and the cost of capital and the stock market is uncertain," said OCBC analyst Carey Wong.
- Lehman Brothers has initiated coverage of CDL Hospitality Trust with an "equal weight" rating and target price of S$2.22, K-REIT Asia at "overweight" with target of S$3.42 and Cambridge Industrial Trust at "overweight" with a price target of S$0.80.
- Conglomerate Fraser and Neave said its unit has bought a Hong Kong-based food and beverage company for US$26.4 million in cash.
- Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust said it has bought a logistics centre for S$22.5 million ($16 million), to be funded by debt.
- Electronics distributor SNF Corp has fired its financial controller, after investigations showed that he had breached employment terms with the company.
- Japanese ship financing firm Uni-Asia Finance said it has bought a property investment firm for about $10.7 million through a share swap.
- Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 0.91 percent to 3,560.05 points on Wednesday.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.48 percent to end at 13,444.96. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.78 percent to 2,666.36.
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