Stock Market News Update :

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Singapore stock market update

SINOTEL CLINCHES NEW ORDER FROM CHINA UNICOM TO DEVELOP NETWORK OPTIMIZATION & BUSINESS ANALYSIS SYSTEM WORTH RMB32.8 MILLION

Singapore, 16 January, 2009 - Singapore Exchange (SGX) mainboard-listed Sinotel Technologies Limited (”Sinotel” or the “Group”), an innovator in the provision of wireless telecommunications infrastructure and solutions in the PRC, is pleased to announce that it has won the bidding for the development of a Network Optimization & Business Analysis System for China Unicom in 6 major locations, i.e. Beijing(北京), Jiangsu(江苏), Chongqing(重庆), Guangxi(广西), Hebei(河北) and Shanxi(陕西). The contract is worth a total of RMB32.8million.

The technology is a proprietary solution offered by Sinotel that will enable China Unicom to record and monitor signal strengths emitted by individual base stations. The advancement is intended to assist China Unicom to monitor and improve network coverage so that users will enjoy higher signal strength, area coverage and more consistent data transfer speeds.

Said Mr Jia Yue Ting (”贾跃亭”), Executive Chairman of Sinotel, “The Group is pleased to have won the bidding to develop this proprietary software for our partner China Unicom.

In China, the reliability and availability of network signal has always been a mobile user’s top consideration when deciding on their carrier of choice. In the dawn of preparing for a 3G roll out, we are likely to see a lot more emphasis made by the telcos to enhance their networks and develop similar tools to monitor and optimize signal strengths.

The recent release of 3G licenses to telcos marked the beginning of China’s 3G era and the Network Optimization & Business Analysis System will further strengthen their competitiveness in this new environment.”

China officially issued 3G licenses to state run carriers China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom on 7 January, 2009, igniting a race between the telcos to speed up 3G upgrading works and be first to secure market dominance in the world’s largest population of mobile users.

source :

http://www.sinotel.com.sg/en/our-profile/corporate-announcements/59-new-cu-business-analysis-order

Forex and financial market update :

There was virtually no good news in the November employment data, which came in at a loss of 533,000 jobs. Payrolls dropped and prior months levered were lowered. The average workweek dropped, indicating weak demand for those still employed.

This Friday’s news releases are expected to deliver a mixed bag.

*    Experts and analysts are predicting a loss of 460,000 to 475,000
jobs and while that is grim, it is better than the November numbers.
*    The average work week is expected to remain steady at 33.5
hours.
*    The unemployment rate is expected to rise to 7.0%, 0.3% higher
than the previous report.

The ADP National Employment Report has already reported that private sector jobs fell by a greater-than-expected 693,000 in December. These reports have increased the level of speculation by industry analysts and economists. President-Elect Barack Obama opened his first news conference since winning the presidential election by saying that this grim employment report was sobering, and calling for a second stimulus plan and extending unemployment benefits to help struggling Americans.

For week ending December 27, the Labor Department reported that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 492,000, a decrease of 94,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 586,000.
They also reported a four-week moving average of 552,250, a decrease of 5,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 558,000.

Wall Street had seemed to be absorbing poor economic and corporate news a little better than it was in late November, however warnings from tech giant Intel left stocks with their biggest losses in a month on Wednesday. Some investors have been betting on a recovery in the second half of 2009 or by early 2010. This will be put to the test on Friday morning with the Labor Department’s report.

What is the NFP report?

Of all the world monthly economic reports, the monthly U.S. Non Farm Report (NFP) is the most highly anticipated and has the most dramatic impact on the currency market.

The report, which is released on the first Friday of each month and states the previous month’s numbers, provides detailed industry data on employment, hours and earnings of workers on nonfarm payrolls. These numbers are the best way to gauge the current state of the US market as well as the direction that the economy is heading.

What’s more, the employment numbers provided by the report are used by the Fed to shape their interest rate policies. The health of the U.S.
economy and interest rates translate to the strength or weakness of the U.S. dollar.

source : ibfx.com