FTSE STI closed 3,203.03, up 1.76 points or +0.05% with a total volume of 2.42b and a total value of S$983M. Total number of advance vs decline was 203 vs 213. Of the 30 component index stocks, 17 closed positive, 3 unchanged and 10 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ +0.710
2. Jardine C&C +0.480
3. JSH 500US$ +0.930
4. SGX +0.080
5. CapMallsAsia +0.050
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. DBS -0.090
2. SIA Engg -0.080
3. GLP -0.060
4. OCBC -0.050
5. UOB -0.040
US markets closed positive last Friday with both DJ and S&P extending their record high. Asian bourses were mostly positive for the day. Nikkei -0.01%, SSE +2.87% and HSI +2.73%. STI though tracking regional bourses in the positive but was pretty much flat with a +0.05% closing in thin volume and value day. 17 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
US stock markets extending their gain probably due to the signal given by the next US Fed Chief about not tapering soon and fund managers have obligation to beef up their portfolio for the year since US indices hitting record high else they will be under-performing the benchmark. Other than that, there lack of conviction fundamental reason to scale US markets further up. Asian markets were much divided for the day with both SSE and HSI outperformed almost every other regional bourses as investors slowly realized the benefit of China reform, which of course benefit China and Hong Kong.
Singapore today announced its October non-oil export data coming in at +2.8% after months of declining. That data surprised every analysts but STI did not react much to it. Though positive for the day, the general sentiment was flat, moving in narrow range. STI might be muted but this is the period in which fund managers finalized their portfolio for the year. A drop in stock price could be due to fund managers selling out to book a realized profit/loss for the final figure and not necessary due to fundamental issue. Similarly, an up in price could be fund managers beefing up their portfolio too. Short-term investors will be frustrated with the price range while long-term investors will have to stomach the directionless movement or some volatility during these periods.
