FTSE STI closed 3,034.02, down 50.39 points or -1.63% with a total volume of 3.34b and a total value of S$1.40b. Total number of advance vs decline was 80 vs 409. Of the 30 component index stocks, 3 closed positive and 27 in the red. The 3 gainer component stocks were :-
1. GLP +0.030
2. Olam +0.030
3. HPH Trust US$ +0.005
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ -2.850
2. JSH 500US$ -2.040
3. Jardine C&C -1.910
4. UOB -0.540
5. DBS -0.230
US markets were trading higher for most of the time until the last hour when everything turned south and closed in the red. Asian bourses were mostly red for the day with Nikkei -0.69%, SSE +0.34% and HSI -0.59%. STI was one of the worst performing index with a drop of 1.63% in higher volume but thin value. Only 3 of the 30 index stocks managed to register positive closing.
The reason for the selling down of US markets the last hour was Syria tension. The Syria tension did little help to the ongoing outflow of funds from Asia resulting in most of the regional bourses sank into the red. There was also talk of the 97 Asian financial crisis which further piled up the selling pressure. One need to compare an Apple with an Apple for the case of present situation and 97 financial crisis. Fundamentally Asia of today is much stronger than that in 97 and to make the comparison pretty much lack of understanding of the fundamental of Asian economy now.
STI continued the selling from last week with another more than 1% drop but the drop mostly due to the big caps while the broader markets still in range bound mode. The negative sentiment has differ bargain hunters and with lack of buyers, the stock prices could be easily pressed down with minimum effort. Sentiment is short-term but fundamental is not, investors should have confidence in the fundamental and sentiment is just a short-term noise.
