Monday, May 19, 2014

Market Summary -- 19th May 14

FTSE STI closed 3,262.43, down 0.16 points or -0.00% with a total volume of 2.17b and a total value of S$1.54b.  Total number of advance vs decline was 240 vs 204.  Of the 30 component index stocks, 13 closed positive, 8 unchanged and 9 in the red.  The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-

1. Jardine C&C  +0.580
2. OCBC  +0.060
3. SIA  +0.060
4. Noble  +0.050
5. UOB  +0.040

The top 5 loser component stocks were :-

1. JMH 400USD  -0.800
2. JSH 500USD  -0.400
3. HongkongLand USD  -0.080
4. CityDev  -0.070
5. SingTel  -0.010
5. Keppel Corp  -0.010
5. GoldenAgr  -0.010

US markets closed positive last Friday but Asian bourses were mostly in the red.  Nikkei -0.64%, SSE -1.05% and HSI -0.04%.  STI fared much better than regional bourses with a flat closing in moderate volume and value.  13 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.

US markets managed to close positive probably due to technical rebound from oversold in the past days.  For Asia, it was a cautious trading day as investors await for China HSBC flash PMI reading for May later this week.  For past months the China PMI reading has been weak and investors are looking in particularly has it bottom on the slow down and whether Chinese Government will come in to unveil stimulus to boost the growth.  Europe has its own concerning event too as investors are awaiting what ECB will be doing.  For US, the event for the week probably will be the releasing of the minutes of the US Fed FOMC meeting later this week.

STI was flat divided by weakness on regional bourses and bargain hunting.  As earning season will be coming to a close this week, global events will be in focus next.  The lack of volume and with next month being World Cup month, the directionless might continue till mid of July when the next earning season opens again.  Two quarters of earnings have been released, which are the one fundamentally strong and which are not are very clear now.  Prices for those fundamental strong stocks will soften slowly for the next 1.5 to 2 months, that will be the opportunity to bargain hunt.