Singapore Stock Picks for 2017

According to a Maybank Kim Eng research report today (13 December 2016), the firm views the current economic outlook as mediocre to poor for all four factors deemed important for market performance:

1.       Economic growth is sluggish,

2.       Index valuations uncompelling,

3.       Earnings recovery expectations weak with downside risk,

4.       On the politics & policy front, rising risks of protectionism in the west, possible cooling-off in China relations plus neighbouring countries’ measures should stem capital outflow.

Against this backdrop,  MKE prefers a strategy of capital preservation over growth. 

The top stock picks for 2017 by MKE are:

1.       CapitaLand Commercial Trust

2.       Keppel REIT

3.       Venture Corporation

4.       Raffles Medical Group

5.       United Overseas Land

6.       Bumitama Agri

7.       Jumbo Group

8.       Ezion

ST Engineering and DBS are also flagged as two stocks best leveraged to USD strength but valuations are not compelling.

Stocks NOT liked by MKE include:

1.       OCBC

2.       Genting Singapore

3.       Keppel Corp

4.       MobileOne

which MKE believes the market is currently underestimating and mispricing business risk.