Singapore Index Falls, Keppel Corp Weighs

PHOTO: Singapore skyline in the early morning. 

Singapore shares fell, weighed by Keppel Corp Ltd after the world's largest oil rig builder said its $1.2-billion deal to construct offshore drilling rigs for Ukraine's state energy firm Naftogaz had fallen through.

The Straits Times Index was down 0.6 percent at 3,282.42 points, while MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.5 percent.

Shares of Keppel Corp Ltd fell as much as 2.2 percent to a one-week low of S$11.60. It was among the top traded stocks by both value and volume in the Singapore market on Wednesday.

OCBC Investment Research said there may be a negative knee-jerk reaction to this news, but maintained its 'buy' rating with a S$12.68 target price.

Shares of Midas Holdings Ltd rose as much as 4 percent to S$0.52, the highest since March 1. The jump came after the company said it has won five contracts to supply components for train projects in China, totaling 109.6 million yuan ($17.63 million).

DBS Vickers raised its target price on Midas to S$0.60 from S$0.50 in anticipation of order wins from the metro and export segments in the coming months, while high speed train orders will be another catalyst.

($1 = 6.2162 Chinese yuan)

Reporting by Teo Jion Chun; Editing by Sunil Nair (c) Thompson Reuters