Thursday, April 24, 2014

Market Summary -- 24th Apr 14

FTSE STI closed 3,283.93, up 25.92 points or +0.80% with a total volume of 2.11b and a total value of S$1.34b.  Total number of advance vs decline was 321 vs 132.  Of the 30 component index stocks, 23 closed positive, 4 unchanged and 3 in the red.  The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-

1. JSH 500USD  +0.410
2. Jardine C&C  +0.390
3. UOB  +0.350
4. JMH 400USD  +0.150
5. HongkongLand USD  +0.110

The 3 loser component stocks were :-

1. Keppel Corp  -0.040
2. SIA Engg  -0.010
3. CapMallsAsia  -0.010

US markets closed in the red yesterday and Asian bourses were mixed for the day.  Nikkei -0.97%, SSE -0.50% and HSI +0.24%.  STI closed +0.80% recovered back yesterday loss in moderate volume and value day.  23 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.

Corporate earning and housing data pulled US markets down yesterday but after market closed both Apple and Facebook reported better than expected earning and that probably sending US markets to a rebound tonight.  For Asia, it was mixed with Nikkei in the red due to the disappointment of any TPP deal when US President Obama visited Japan.  Rest of the Asia were split on bargain hunting and profit taking.

STI managed to recover yesterday loss due to bargain hunting and short-covering in anticipation of a positive US markets tonight.  With no surprises to corporate earning so far, any upside or rebound could be capped due to the lack of firm catalysts.  For the broader market, blue chips could be volatile for this and next week due to several of them going XD, mid-cap stocks very much in range bound and potential bias towards the upside.  For the punter micro-penny, it is a different story, rebound due to sentiment might be just a dead cat bounce.