FTSE STI closed 3,241.79, down 12.34 points or -0.38% with a total volume of 1.99b and a total value of S$751M. Total number of advance vs decline was 134 vs 264. Of the 30 component index stocks, 9 closed positive, 6 unchanged and 15 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ +0.430
2. OCBC +0.110
3. HKLand US$ +0.050
4. Kep Corp +0.050
5. SIA Engg +0.040
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C -0.940
2. DBS -0.140
3. SingTel -0.090
4. StarHub -0.080
5. JSH 500US$ -0.060
US markets recovered from lower opening to close marginally positive after non-farm payroll data. Asian bourses were mixed for the day with Nikkei -1.44%, SSE +1.04% and HSI +0.14%. STI fell 0.38% in thin volume and value day with 9 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
US created only 162,000 jobs last month below expectation, fewer than past months and unemployment rate dropped to 7.4%. It was not a strong set of result but neither it was a very weak set of result too. Investors would probably confuse with that set of data. On one hand the weaker than expected data caused concern of US labor markets recovery and on the other hand, the weak set of data would probably delay the US Fed from tapering. Over the weekend, China released its official service PMI data coming in at 54.1, improvement from previous month and that gave investors some relief of worries on China economic growth. In the afternoon, Euro zone reported an expanded PMI data for the first time in 18 months, coming in at 50.5 and that brought European markets higher. Noting that recent Euro zone economic data has been relatively positive signaling the recovery from recession.
STI after past 2 days of gain was on a profit taking days in particular ahead of the long weekend (STI will be closed from Thursday) as investors see no incentive to take fresh positions. The drop in index mainly due to profit taking of the heavy weight index stocks like DBS, SingTel and Jardine C&C while the broad markets were merely range bound. Looking at STI alone might give sentiment of short-term bearish but from the broad market perspective, it is different story as majority of the stocks are in range bound, consolidation mode. With a short trading week, expect for mute activities.
