Weak corporate earnings due to an economic slump are likely to weigh down shares trading in Singapore next week, analysts said. The main Straits Times Index closed Friday at 1,794.20, up 193.92 points or 12.12 percent from the week before, benefiting from a rally in global stocks after the US Federal Reserve and other central banks cut interest rates.
Average volume traded was 1.59 billion shares worth 1.20 billion Singapore dollars (809 million US), compared with 1.17 billion shares worth 1.18 billion dollars last week.
Blue chip Singapore Airlines and lender DBS Group will release corporate earnings results next Friday, with analysts saying their incomes are likely to be hurt by the current economic downturn.
"Earnings-wise, it's not too pretty so far," a trader with a local house told Dow Jones Newswires. "Corporate earnings will definitely be affected compared to one year ago." Singapore's United Overseas Bank (UOB) said Friday its third quarter net profit fell 5.1 percent from the previous year as the financial crisis hurt non-interest income and raised impairment charges. UOB chief executive Wee Ee Cheong said the impact of a global credit crunch "will be increasingly evident in the real economy." Top Singapore firms which have already announced lower net profits include shipping firm Neptune Orient Lines and Singapore Press Holdings and property developer CapitaLand.