FTSE STI closed 3,165.25, down 14.46 points or -0.45% with a total volume of 1.92b and a total value of S$558M. Total number of advance vs decline was 121 vs 305. Of the 30 component index stocks, 3 closed positive, 6 unchanged and 21 in the red. The 3 gainer component stocks were :-
1. OCBC +0.020
2. SPH +0.010
3. THBEV +0.010
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ -1.330
2. JSH 500US$ -0.350
3. HKLand US$ -0.080
4. CityDev -0.070
5. Semb Corp -0.050
US markets closed positive with at least 0.6% gain last Friday due to optimism over the debt ceiling issue. Asian bourses were mostly down for the day. Nikkei and HSI were closed for holiday while SSE bucked the regional trend closing +0.43%. STI fell 0.45% in thin volume and value day and only 3 of the 30 index stocks managed to register positive closing.
There was optimism last Friday that US lawmakers could strike a deal on the current issue but so far nothing has been agreed on and over the weekend China reported a surprise drop in September export data and that drag the sentiment for the day causing most of the regional bourses to trade in the negative region. China also reported a 7-month high inflation of 3.1% for September but that didn't deter SSE to be in the negative region. As 17th Oct deadline is just round the corners, global investors are getting nervous and global leaders also pressuring US lawmakers to hurry strike a deal to avoid default. US lawmakers might be doing a daredevil stance to settle the debt ceiling issue but they could easily be the world number 1 unpopular figure should they continue to play hard in not resolving the issue. They could be marvel in US but they will face with the whole world blaming on them for causing another global financial crisis.
STI was pretty quiet for the day given than tomorrow is a holiday and not many investors willing to take any position. Singapore also released its 3Q GDP this morning coming in +5.1% yoy better than expected but investors were mostly not in a cheering mode given the current global concerns over US. Earning season also started last Friday with SPH (nett profit fell from last year) and more will be coming out this week and so on. While concerns were on US, investors should not ignore the corporate earning for Singapore companies. Stay focus on the fundamental.
