FTSE STI closed 3,028.94, down 9.09 points or -0.30% with a total volume of 2.68b and a total value of S$1.73b. Total number of advance vs decline was 189 vs 235. Of the 30 component index stocks, 16 closed positive, 1 unchanged and 13 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ +0.590
2. CityDev +0.140
3. StarHub +0.110
4. SGX +0.100
5. ComfortDelGro +0.065
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C -1.070
2. UOB -0.370
3. DBS -0.170
4. OCBC -0.080
5. SIA Engg -0.070
US markets closed positive after better than expected economic data. Asian bourses were mostly higher with Nikkei -0.53%, SSE +0.05% and HSI +0.12%. STI swinging between gain and loss closed -0.30% with 16 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
US weekly jobless claims fell to lowest and 2Q GDP came in +2.5% better than expected. Economic data wise were positive but Syria concerns and US Fed tapering fear due to better than expected economic data capped gain. Asian bourses going in the last trading of the month with mixed. Japan reported better than expected economic data in inflation coming in +0.7% (moving out of deflation) and jobless rate lower than expected too. However. Nikkei gave up the earlier gain and closed in the red. Rest of the regional bourses though mostly higher but gain was capped as concern of Syria weighed on.
STI after yesterday rebound of 1.6% was flat for the day as investors choosing to take profit and stay cautious over the weekend as anything can happen in particular Syria issue. Being the last day of the month also saw window dressing from fund managers and that further capped gain. Most of the stocks were just traded in narrow range for the day. Investors will be looking at next month with couple of important events happening, namely US Fed FOMC meeting, Germany election, US Government's action on its debt ceiling which will hit the limit in mid October and of course the Syria case in which whether US will carry out strike on it. Most of the events might not point to positive bias but market should be hitting bottom by mid September and a fundamental rebound to follow.
