Stocks were off to a “bumpy start” in Jan, as 10-year US treasury bond yields ticked higher with potential delay in monetary easing weighing on sentiment. A higher-than-expected US retail sales numbers in Dec 2023 reinforced such expectations.
UOB Kay Hian’s (UOBKH) Singapore research team says that its alpha picks portfolio for the month of January has held steady amid market weakness. It beat the Straits Times Index (STI) by 2.77 percentage points (ppt), and 0.77 ppt on an equal- and market-weighted basis respectively, as the STI slipped into negative territory.
For its Feb 2024 portfolio, UOBKH adds Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (YZJ) as they see dividend upside and potential earnings upgrades from its upcoming results and remove Seatrium as uncertainty over the size of its 2023 write-offs may weigh in the short term.
