FTSE STI closed 3,039.45, up 24.03 points or +0.80% with a total volume of 3.59b and a total value of S$1.16b. Total number of advance vs decline was 287 vs 159. Of the 30 component index stocks, 21 closed positive, 2 unchanged and 7 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C +0.690
2. SIA +0.240
3. DBS +0.140
4. UOB +0.140
5. Kep Corp +0.120
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. HKLand US$ -0.130
2. JSH 500US$ -0.090
3. SPH -0.030
4. JMH 400US$ -0.030
5. SIA Engg -0.010
5. CityDev -0.010
US markets closed positive with at least 0.60% gain despite it seemed that President Obama is getting all the support to strike Syria. Asian bourses were mostly higher taking the cue from US markets with Nikkei +0.08%, SSE -0.24% and HSI +1.22%. STI crawled back some of the loss yesterday by closing +0.80% in very thin value day and 21 of the 30 index stocks registered positive closing.
US released its trade data yesterday with its deficit coming in wider than expected and US Congress will vote on whether to approve strike on Syria next week. Asian bourses rebounded from yesterday selling off mostly but cautious still persist prior to US Fed FOMC meeting and whether US will eventually strike Syria. The coming Friday non-farm payroll data is another closely watched by investors as to determine whether US Fed will scale back its QE this month.
STI crawled back some of the losses yesterday but the broader market still very cautious. The upwards movements were very resistive due to lacking of buyers at the moment. Market might have rebounded today but calm before the storm, there should be a final capitulation coming round the corner before everything reverse.
