FTSE STI closed 3,262.59, down 9.90 points or -0.30% with a total volume of 1.62b and a total value of S$1.27b. Total number of advance vs decline was 189 vs 205. Of the 30 component index stocks, 5 closed positive, 7 unchanged and 18 in the red. The 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. CapMallsAsia +0.110
2. HongkongLand USD +0.060
3. Noble +0.040
4. ComfortDelGro +0.010
5. HPH Trust USD +0.005
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C -1.090
2. CityDev -0.250
3. UOB -0.190
4. JMH 400USD -0.190
5. Keppel Corp -0.080
US markets fell more than 1% but recovered to close near 1% yesterday. Asian bourses were mostly negative for the day. Nikkei -1.41%, SSE +0.08% and HSI -0.08%. STI pulled back 0.30% in thin volume and value with 5 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
US weekly jobless claims fell to 7-year low, April CPI rose to 0.3% but Industrial Output for April fell 0.6%. However, the sell down was not due to the mixed bag of economic data but triggered off by the selling off of small cap stocks. Nobody knew why. Asian bourses taking the cue and with almost no positive news, were seen profit taking ahead of the weekend resulting in mostly in the red.
Singapore announced its April non-oil export coming in at +0.9% vs expectation of -2.5%. Capitaland revised its offer price for CapMallsAsia to $2.35 and the pop up of CapMallsAsia price (rising about 5%) helped to cushion the drop. Taking the lead from regional bourses, traders and punting closing off positions for the weekend resulting in STI fell 0.30%. With earning season coming to the end next week, STI will be in range bound mode biasing towards downside till July. Watch the S-Reits, back testing their recent breakout levels, if that can hold, should be able to move up to test to next level of resistance next month.
