FTSE STI closed 3,335.19, down 6.54 points or -0.20% with a total volume of 2.00b and a total value of S$684M. Total number of advance vs decline was 174 vs 246. Of the 30 component index stocks, 8 closed positive, 4 unchanged and 18 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C +0.410
2. UOB +0.120
3. DBS +0.080
4. SIA +0.020
5. SembCorp +0.010
5. SingTel +0.010
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400USD -0.420
2. JSH 500USD -0.210
3. HongkongLand USD -0.070
4. CityDev -0.060
5. OCBC -0.040
5. GLP -0.040
US markets closed positive last Friday after job data. Asian bourses however were mixed with Nikkei +0.23%, SSE closed for holiday and HSI -0.20%. STI dipped 0.20% in higher volume but very thin value with 8 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
US created less than 200,000 jobs last month while unemployment rate dropped to 6.1%. The weak data has investors believe that US Fed might not raise rate sooner than expected thereby resulting in US markets closing positive with S&P500 setting another record high for the year. Ukraine and Russia reached ceasefire deal last Friday but over the weekend some shelling took place and that put doubts on whether the ceasefire agreement really working. For today couple of economic data came out with Japan GDP contracted more than expected and China trade data were mixed with export rises more than expected but import fell more than expected. The mixed data just dividing the regional markets as cautiousness set in.
STI swinging between gain and loss with most of the time in the red in very quiet trade. Majority of the activity was on those punter penny stocks as blue chips were on cautious given the mixed events. While STI might not going nowhere in the near-term, this should be seen as consolidation given that it still move within the range of 3,280 to 3,340. Unless the downside has been broken down as the consolidation should be viewed as positive going forwards.
