FTSE STI closed 3,280.17, down 16.50 points or -0.50% with a total volume of 1.83b and a total value of S$1.23b. Total number of advance vs decline was 158 vs 263. Of the 30 component index stocks, 13 closed positive, 5 unchanged and 12 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C +0.180
2. OCBC +0.050
3. Olam +0.040
4. SIA Engg +0.040
5. ComfortDelGro +0.020
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400USD -1.480
2. JSH 500USD -0.640
3. UOB -0.340
4. Hongkong Land USD -0.170
5. CityDev -0.120
US markets closed in the red yesterday and Asian bourses were mostly down. Nikkei +0.22%, SSE -0.66% and HSI -0.60%. STI fell 0.50% in thin volume and value with 13 of the 30 index stocks managed to register gain.
Profit taking and taking cautious stance from ECB decision and US non-farm payroll data later this week caused US markets to drift down. Asia, except for Nikkei helped by the further weakening of Yen were mostly in the red. Lack of catalysts coupling with cautious ahead of important events led to the drop. While most believe ECB should do a rate cut this Thursday, any markets rally in reaction to that could be just knee-jerk reaction. ECB has been dragging in action for at least half a year. Any action now could prompt whether is ECB too slow to react and confirmation of deflation is there for Europe.
Most of the blue chips in STI faced selling pressure for the day resulting in a drop. For broad base, except for selective (maybe due to rotation play) most were in the red too. Some might be anticipating perhaps good news from ECB and US non-farm payroll could stage a rebound but be warned that it will be weak. General market is now biased towards downside with a possibility of 3% to 5% pull back from its recent high.
