Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Market Summary -- 22nd Feb 12

FTSE STI closed 2,995.59, down 29.48 points or -0.97% with a total volume of 2.36b and a total value of S$2.09b.  Total number of advance vs decline was 228 vs 314.  Of the 30 component index stocks, 7 closed positive, 18 closed negative and 5 remained unchanged.  The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-

1. UOB  +0.150
2. CityDev  +0.120
3. Capitaland  +0.05
4. ST Engg  +0.040
5. SingTel  +0.030
5. SPH  +0.050

The top 5 loser component stocks were :-

1. JMH 400US$  -1.310
2. JSH 500US$  -0.990
3. Wilmar  -0.640
4. Jardine C&C  -0.340
5. HKLand US$  -0.140

US markets closed mixed yesterday night with DJ and S&P500 in positive while Nasdaq slipped.  After the Greece's bailout, investors were now counting on the possible risk as of whether Greece can meet the requirement of 120.5% debt to GDP ration by 2020 and also chances of more bailout along the way or even default is increasing.  Asian bourses continued with yesterday muted reaction to Greece bailout closing mixed.  Nikkei closed +0.96% as weakening of Yen boast exporter, SSE +0.93% after survey of China PIM continued to contract and news of Shanghai allowing second property purchase ( sign of possible more monetary easing ) and HSI +0.33%.  STI was unfortunately unable to track regional bourses to close positive rather down 0.97% in another moderate volume day.  Note also total value was much higher than past days.

A Greece immediate default might be a better option as compared to getting the bailout weighed on markets as from the longer term, the danger of that outweight an immediate default.  Singapore property stocks were on a roar today after news of Shanghai allowing second property purchase but that was unable to offset the negative sentiment especially with Wilmar leading the slide with a drop of 10.92% after reporting a miss expectation earning this morning.