The Singapore stocks to watch amid Trump and Kim's historic meet

[SINGAPORE] There's more than one way to play the Trump-Kim summit in the world of stocks. Apart from the obvious North Asian and US equities that may be impacted by the outcome of US President Donald Trump and North Korea Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un's meeting, there's another geography investors can consider: Singapore.

Its consumer stocks to be precise. The city-state's Sentosa Island will host the historic summit on Tuesday (June 12), where Trump aims to persuade the North Korean dictator to give up his country's nuclear arsenal in exchange for relief from US economic sanctions. While heightened security during the event could disrupt both tourist and local spending, hotels and restaurants still stand to benefit from the sheer number of visitors, and positive sentiment could spill over into the medium term, some analysts say. The event should generate "a hoohah" in Singapore, and "tourism as well as the consumer sector will likely see a lift" thanks to the influx of international media, said Jarick Seet, head of small- and mid-cap research at RHB Research Institute Singapore Pte.

Shares of Shangri-La Asia Ltd, which trades in Singapore and Hong Kong, advanced last week as more summit details emerged, including Singapore's public order establishing a special zone around its flagship hotel for the summit. The event is scheduled to take place at the Capella hotel in Sentosa, which also houses Genting Singapore Ltd's Resort World Sentosa integrated resort.

Here's a look at the consumer shares that might stand to benefit from the event:

Hotels: Shangri-La Asia, Genting Singapore, Hotel Properties Ltd, Amara Holdings Ltd, CDL Hospitality Trusts, Far East Hospitality Trust, Ascott Residence Trust, OUE Hospitality Trust could be impacted. These companies own hotels in Singapore popular with business travelers.

Food & Beverage: Jumbo Group Ltd, No Signboard Holdings Ltd have some of the most iconic seafood restaurants in Singapore, while Kimly Ltd and BreadTalk Group Ltd are homegrown brands with stores across the island.

Transport: ComfortDelGro Corp owns Singapore's largest taxi fleet. With thousands of visitors likely to be in town for the summit, it's inevitable that cabs will be in high demand. Singapore Airlines Ltd, Southeast Asia's biggest airline, and Sats Ltd, provider of food solutions and services to the aviation sector, also stand to gain amid an influx of travelers for the event.

But Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp's head of research Carmen Lee is skeptical the event will benefit local equities.

"The summit is so short, it is unlikely to have any real impact on consumer stocks in June," she said. As some areas have been gazetted off, with stricter security measures, "it could be a slight negative," she said.

Lim Siew Khee, an analyst at CIMB-GK Securities, shares the view that the summit will probably boost consumer and tourism-related stocks in the medium term as it sets the stage for such events in the future. This meeting "reaffirms Singapore as a preferred choice of venue for a high-profile, global summit and arbitration hub," Mr Lim wrote in a June 7 report.

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