Corporate earnings are expected to move the Singapore stock market this week but concerns over a projected slowdown in the global technology sector could weigh down sentiment, dealers said. They said blue chip Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) would be among the stocks to watch ahead of its third quarter to December earnings due on Thursday and amid market rumours of new acquisition plans.
Shares of SingTel - which has a subsidiary in Australia and affiliates in India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand - could extend gains on hopes the firm would make further investments in the region, analysts said.
However, others cautioned the company's earnings may disappoint as the Singapore home market is already saturated and growth in overseas units could slow down.
Highlighting concerns over the technology sector, Chartered Semiconductor, the world's third-largest supplier of custom-made microchips, said Friday it had slipped back into the red and warned of further losses to come as demand weakened.
The Singapore-based company said that in the three months to December, it suffered a net loss of 26.8 million US dollars after three quarters of profits in 2004.
It said losses were expected to widen to 80-90 million dollars in the first quarter to March with demand for chips in the communications and computer markets expected to remain soft.
SingTel shares closed at 2.53 Singapore dollars on Friday, up 10 cents from a week earlier, while Chartered was down two cents to 94 cents for the week.
For the week to January 28, the Straits Times Index rose 4.12 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 2,089.51.
Over the week, average daily volume totalled 893.8 million shares worth 792.2 million Singapore dollars (495.13 million US), compared with 1.11 billion shares valued at 852 million Singapore dollars a week earlier.