FTSE STI closed 3,219.86, down 1.46 points or -0.05% with a total volume of 3.27b and a total value of S$1.75b. Total number of advance vs decline was 156 vs 287. Of the 30 component index stocks, 12 closed positive, 4 unchanged and 14 closed negative. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ +0.850
2. JSH 500US$ +0.830
3. UOB +0.170
4. Jardine C&C +0.150
5. SembCorp +0.070
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. F&N -0.190
2. CityDev -0.080
3. SIA -0.070
4. SGX -0.060
5. Wilmar -0.040
US markets were closed yesterday for President inauguration. Asian bourses were mostly down for the day. Nikkei -0.35%, SSE -0.56% and HSI +0.29%. STI failed to maintain the gain and close flat at -0.05% in thinner volume and value. 12 of the 30 index stocks posted positive closing.
BOJ adopted the 2% inflation target as expected enabling more bond buying. That news did help most Asian markets to ease losses but with the lacking of more positive catalysts, most markets still pretty much directionless as investors digesting corporate earnings. European bourses were biased towards the sell side as Euro-area finance ministers were debating on the ESM rules.
For STI, the focus was on F&N apart from corporate earnings. OUE withdraw from the auction bid and hence making TCC getting one step closer to acquire F&N with its latest $9.55/share offering. As a result of that, F&N share fell 1.95% to the offer price. TCC at the moment has 42.5% and needed another 7.5% to make the offer unconditional. With that, the F&N saga is almost coming to an end. From earning side, SGX reported its 2Q earning coming in better than last year after market closed. More blue chips Kepland, KepCorp plus couple of S-Reits will be releasing their earning this week too.
Investors on earning play should be cautious as even if the earning is better than expected, the upside might be capped.
