FTSE STI closed 3,210.21, up 14.45 points or +0.45% with a total volume of 3.09b and a total value of S$1.46b. Total number of advance vs decline was 273 vs 173. Of the 30 component index stocks, 17 closed positive, 5 unchanged and 8 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ +0.300
2. UOB +0.100
3. Wilmar +0.100
4. SingTel +0.080
5. Olam +0.060
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C -0.400
2. JSH 500US$ -0.120
3. Kep Corp -0.050
4. StarHub -0.040
5. ST Engg -0.020
US markets were flat yesterday as investors took a break and await for economic data. Asian bourses were mixed for the day with Nikkei +0.13%, SSE -0.83% and HSI -0.52%. STI was in the out performer region with a +0.45% gain in moderate volume and value. 17 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
Investors got a temporary relief of the US debt issue and refocus to the macro events such as economic data and corporate earning. The delayed September non-farm payroll will be released this week and investors will be accessing the damage done to US Government partial shutdown for the past 2 weeks and how US Fed will react in particular when they will start to taper. Market consensus was because of the inefficiency of the US lawmakers, US Fed might even delay the taper till next year.
STI fared better than regional bourses as investors switched their focus back to corporate earning. Those fundamentally strong stocks were slowly edging up prior to their release of their earning without any doubt. This earning season could be a turning point in which whether year end will STI having a rally or not. Fund managers holding cash sideline will be tempted to re-enter should the corporate earning provide more positive news than negative and this could eventually push the stock prices higher. Should they not re-enter they risk their portfolio being underperformed the benchmark.
