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)
1236 (0436 GMT)
(Reporting by Teo Jion Chun; Editing by Sunil Nair
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10:39 STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Keppel Corp falls to 1-week low after contract loss
Shares of Keppel Corp Ltd fell to their lowest in a week after the world's largest builder of offshore oil rigs lost a deal worth $1.2 billion, but at least two analysts kept their top ratings citing strong order pipeline.
Keppel shares fell as much as 2.2 percent to S$11.60. It was the second most actively traded stocks by value, with more than 2.1 million shares traded in the first 90 minutes, more than half the average full-day volume over the past 30 days. The benchmark Straits Times Index edged down 0.3 percent.
Keppel said the contract with Ukraine's state energy firm, Naftogaz to build two semi-submersible drilling rigs will not be effective as certain conditions were not met.
"We are not surprised as Keppel has hinted that it might not pursue the contract if certain conditions were not met," CIMB analyst Lim Siew Khee said. CIMB maintained its 'outperform' call, estimating a target of S$5.5 billion ($4.41 billion) to be met from a diversification of orders this year.
While DBS Vickers expects Keppel's share price to be impacted due to the negative perception of such news, it recommended investors to buy on weakness, keeping its target share price of S$13.00. ($1 = 1.2473 Singapore dollars)
1037 (0237 GMT)
