PwC report unlikely to be enough to satisfy market

AFTER an encouraging early bounce to S$0.645, Noble Group's shares on Tuesday finished S$0.01 weaker at S$0.57, a disappointing outcome for those who might have been hoping that a positive assurance report by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on Noble's accounting practices would have been enough to answer Noble's critics - namely, Iceberg Research, which issued its first critique in February, short-seller Muddy Waters, which emerged soon after, and former investment banker Michael Dee.

It's possible that Tuesday's share price weakness was in line with a fall in the entire market - the Straits Times Index ended a dismal session down almost 1.4 per cent. Or it could be that the reason for the weakness was the second-quarter figures that Noble released together with the PwC repor…