Monday, September 9, 2013

Market Summary -- 9th Sep 13

FTSE STI closed 3,088.20, up 39.85 points or +1.31% with a total volume of 2.63b and a total value of S$1.23b.  Total number of advance vs decline was 314 vs 160.  Of the 30 component index stocks, 25 closed positive, 3 unchanged and 2 in the red.  The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-

1. JSH 500US$  +1.120
2. JMH 400US$  +0.990
3. UOB  +0.390
4. DBS  +0.380
5. Jardine C&C  +0.160

The 2 loser component stocks were :-

1. StarHub  -0.030
2. THBEV  -0.005

US markets closed flat last Friday after the non-farm payroll data.  Asian bourses were on a rally due to couple of events.  Nikkei +2.48%, SSE +3.39% and HSI +0.57%.  STI tracking regional bourses were up 1.31% in a thin volume and value day.  xx of the 30 index stocks registered positive closing.

US created less than expected number of jobs last month with unemployment rate dropped to 7.3%.  The data though came in slightly below expectation but that should not be seeing as a factor for US Fed not to start scaling back its stimulus program this month.  The concern now should not be whether this month will see US Fed taper but rather the detail of the tapering and post tapering effect.  G20 Summit concluded over the weekend with G20 leaders pledging measures to boost growth in global economy but fall short of consensus of whether US should start air strike Syria.  US Congress will meet this week to vote on it.  Over the weekend, couple of events took place, Australia opposition party won the election which should be good for Asia as will be expecting measures to boost Australia economy bias towards Asia.  Tokyo won the right to host 2020 Olympics and that brought good news to Japan economy in particular infrastructure play and caused Nikkei to rally more than 2%.  China reported a better than expected trade data with export coming in more than expected though import fell short of expectation.  That set of data was seen by global investors as a sign of China economy stabilizing which is good to global economy.  That caused SSE to rally more than 3%. 

STI tracking regional bourses rallied more than 1% but volume was thin.  The concern of US Fed tapering still weigh on investors but the biggest concern is when US will air strike Syria.  That will be the uncertainty and unknown for the short-term as the detail of the strike, the duration of the strike and the impact to global economy in particular crude oil price were at the moment undetermined and market might not have factor in that.  Nevertheless, the dip caused by should their be a strike will be bargain hunting opportunity given that the global economy fundamental has outweighed the so-called fear of US Fed tapering.