FTSE STI closed 3,333.67, down 11.33 points or -0.34% with a total volume of 1.28b and a total value of S$1.18b. Total number of advance vs decline was 158 vs 275. Of the 30 component index stocks, 10 closed positive, 4 unchanged and 16 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JSH USD +0.290
2. ComfortDelGro +0.030
3. AscendasReit +0.020
4. OCBC +0.020
5. Wilmar +0.020
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C -0.420
2. CityDev -0.420
3. HongkongLand USD -0.220
4. DBS -0.170
5. JMH USD -0.150
US markets fell at least 0.8% yesterday and Asian bourses were mostly in the red with Nikkei -0.13%, SSE +1.54% and HSI -1.06%. STI in line with regional bourses weakness closed -0.34% in thin volume and value with 10 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
Cautious ahead of tonight US non-farm payroll, IMF cut US growth forecast and Greece confirmed of delay payment to IMF weighed down US markets. With practically no positive news or events, Asian markets were mostly in the red. Though SSE managed to close at new 7-year high, it has to endure a choppy market swinging between loss and gain. While Greece has decided to delay IMF payment due to no deal with international creditors on its reform plan, question will remain, where the money going to come from even if it manages to delay payment. Re-negotiation will still have to come back again for them to get that very much needed money. Investors are very focus on the US job data to look out for clue for when rate hike will be. Again, all are focusing on the wrong thing. What's important is not when rate hike but rather the pace of it. OPEC meeting tonight is another event to watch in which most expect OPEC will not cut supply and pressuring oil price to drop next.
STI spent most of the time in negative region due to the selling of blue chips, in particular CityDev which sank more than 3% with news that it will be omitted from FTSE Global Real Estate Index from 22nd Jun 2015. Broad market was doing range bound with biased towards the sell side. The time frame is within the next 2 weeks, should broad market stabilize, it will be the sign of bargain hunting.
