Friday, October 25, 2013

Market Summary -- 25th Oct 13

FTSE STI closed 3,205.24, down 12.71 points or -0.39% with a total volume of 2.10b and a total value of S$950M.  Total number of advance vs decline was 186 vs 240.  Of the 30 component index stocks, 6 closed positive, 4 unchanged and 20 in the red.  The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-

1. JSH 500US$  +0.650
2. JMH 400US$  +0.570
3. SIA Engg  +0.110
4. SIA  +0.030
5. GoldenAgr  +0.010

The top 5 loser component stocks were :-

1. Kep Corp  -0.070
2. DBS  -0.060
3. SingTel  -0.050
4. Semb Corp  -0.050
5. OCBC  -0.050

US markets rebounded from the sell off the previous day with at least +0.3% closing.  Asian bourses however were on a different note with all falling in the red for the day.  Nikkei -2.75%, SSE -1.45% and HSI -0.60%.  STI retreated 0.39% in thin volume and value with only 6 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.

Better corporate earning from US helped US markets to rebound from previous day sold off.  Asia however behaved differently as strengthening of Yen and concern of China caused investors to take profit for the weekend.  Japan released its September inflation coming in at +0.7% within expectation, further boosting the target of getting out of deflation but that strengthen the Yen.  China's concerns were possibility of some form of monetary tightening by the Government as recent data showed rising property prices.

STI after past days of gain, given the weakness in regional bourses and a weekend ahead, investors just have to take some profit off resulting in the pull back.  Apart from those short-term news which swing the market to either direction, the long-term underlying remains unchanged.