Singapore Hot Stocks

SINGAPORE, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Construction firm Lian Beng Group may be in focus on Friday after it said its half year profit jumped four-fold from a year earlier.

U.S. stocks ended higher on Thursday following news that Bank of America is in advanced talks to buy struggling mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp.

Stocks and factors to watch:

- Construction firm Lian Beng Group said its half year profit rose 266.7 percent to S$8.1 million versus the S$2.2 million achieved in the same period last year.
- Deutsche Bank has raised Singapore Press Holdings to a buy from hold, and increased its target price to S$5.39 from S$4.30, on expectations of higher profits from strong advertising revenues and property gains.
- Macquarie Research has raised the target price for shares of plantation firm Indofood Agri Resources to S$3.60 from S$2.65 and kept its "outperform" rating on the stock, citing high crude palm oil prices.
- DBS Group, Standard Chartered and Credit Suisse will buy a one-third stake in an Indian software and travel reservations firm for $140 million, bank sources told Reuters.
- ASJ Holdings, which makes electronic components, may incur a loss for its full-year results ended December on lower sales volumes in Europe and increased costs from a move in its factories, the firm said in a statement.
- Singapore Exchange, Southeast Asia's largest listed bourse operator, said its executive vice president had resigned from the exchange.
- Singapore Airlines said passengers aboard the Airbus A380 had to switch aircraft after the first commercial superjumbo accidentally touched the grass on the side of the tarmac as it left the departure terminal. [ID:nL10152513]
- Singapore's Straits Times Index lost 1 percent to 3,311.07 points on Thursday.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.92 percent to end at 12,853.09. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.56 percent to 2,488.52.