Singapore Hot Stocks-Centraland, Keppel Corp in focus

SINGAPORE, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Trading debutant Centraland Ltd may be in focus on Friday after fetching S$0.50 per share in its initial public offering.

U.S. stocks ended higher on Thursday after a major bond insurer reassured investors about its stability, fueling a rebound by financial shares hammered recently by the prospect of crumbling credit markets.

Stocks and factors to watch:

- Chinese property developer Centraland Ltd begins trade at 9 a.m. (0100 GMT) after fetching S$0.50 per share in its initial public offering, which was approximately 1.03 times subscribed.
- Morgan Stanley has cut its investor rating for Keppel Corp shares to "equal-weight" from "overweight" and lowered its target price to S$12.50 from S$15.00 on weakening offshore and marine margins.
- UBS has cut the price target for Keppel Corp shares to S$15.00 from S$17.30, but kept its "buy" rating on the stock, citing robust fourth-quarter net profit and a disappointing decline in margins in its offshore and marine sector.
- Deutsche Bank has raised its investment rating for Keppel Corp to "buy" from "hold", citing good earnings visibility and high demand for new oil and gas fields.
- Keppel Corp, the world's largest builder of offshore oil drilling rigs, posted a 46 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit, but cautioned that it expects modest growth in 2008.
- Contract chip maker Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd posted a quarterly profit that rose from a year ago, helped by gains in its communications and consumer sectors, yet partially offset by weakness in the computing industry.
- Allco Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) said distributable income for fiscal fourth-quarter ending Dec 31 rose 106 percent to S$15.6 million ($11 million) from S$7.6 million the same period last year.
- CapitaLand, Southeast Asia's biggest property developer by market value, said it will issue S$1.3 billion ($918 million) worth of 10-year convertible bonds, with a 46 percent conversion premium to S$8.6140 per share, the largest convertible bond ever issued in Singapore.
- Shipbuilding firm Yangzijiang said its Chief Financial Officer Lim Ho Heng has resigned.
- Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index lost 0.61 percent to 2,981.75 points on Thursday.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.67 percent to 12,650.36 points and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 1.74 percent at 2,389.86 points.