SINGAPORE, July 12 (Reuters) - Singapore Press Holdings will be in focus on Thursday after the newspaper publisher reported a decline in third-quarter profit.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday as a scarcity of profit warnings fuelled optimism over the corporate reporting season, enabling the market to regain its footing after a sharp drop the previous session.

Stocks and factors to watch:

- Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), Southeast Asia's biggest newspaper publisher, reported a 8.5 percent decline in third-quarter profit after earnings in the previous year were boosted by a one-off gain.

Deutsche Bank said in a note that SPH's nine-months results was above its expectation, but it remained concerned on the circulation for the company's flagship Straits Times newspaper, which has been falling for three straight quarters.

Deutsche Bank has a "hold" call on the stock with a price target of S$4.30. SPH last traded at S$4.50.

- Shipbuilder Cosco Corp. said it has won $563 million worth of shipbuilding and carrier conversion deals.

- Credit Suisse started coverage of Singapore Telecommunications at "underperform" with a price target of S$3.30.

- Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating for SingTel to "overweight" from "equal-weight", and raised its price target to S$4 from S$3.50.

- Neptune Orient Lines , which owns the world's eighth-biggest container shipping line, said it will equip and run a container terminal in Rotterdam as part of a consortium.

- United Overseas Bank has lost its appeal against a court ruling in a property ownership case involving the bank and construction firm Yongnam Holdings , the Business Times said.

- A Singapore government official said that Singapore will set up a "green lane" mechanism to facilitate the listing of Chinese companies in the city-state, the Business Times said.

- Singapore's Straits Times index slid 0.7 percent to 3,594.94 on Wednesday.

- The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.56 percent to end at 13,577.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.48 percent to 2,651.79.

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For a list of the upcoming release dates for the quarterly earnings of top Singapore-listed companies, please click on .

REUTERS