Singapore shares could trade sideways next week as worries over fallout from the US subprime mortgage crisis continue to dog the market, dealers said. "Sentiment will continue to be weighed down by news of CDO write downs with subprime exposure," said Yeo Kee Yan, retail market strategist at DBS Vickers.
She was referring to collateralised debt obligations, securities backed by a range of assets including bonds, loans and their derivatives, including corporate loans, high-grade mortgages, subprime mortgages, car loans and credit card debt.
Mortgage-related securities were a hot commodity on Wall Street during a years-long housing boom, but the securities lost their lustre this year amid a prolonged housing downturn.
Failure of subprime loans, granted to people with patchy credit histories, sparked a surge of home foreclosures and triggered multibillion-dollar losses for major banks, along with a credit squeeze.
For the week ended December 14, the main Straits Times Index finished 2.57 percent or 91.57 points lower at 3,466.38. Average volume was 1.57 billion shares worth 1.87 billion Singapore dollars (1.29 billion US) compared with 1.85 billion shares worth 2.27 billion Singapore dollars the previous week. "The market is quiet ahead of the holidays and there is no reason to play up shares given the market uncertainties," said Yeo.
Trading will be shortened next week with the local bourse closed Thursday for a public holiday. The week begins with the release of key export data for November on Monday. Economists expect a moderation in non-oil domestic exports from the previous month.
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