FTSE STI closed 2,456.15, up 25.19 points or +1.04% with a total volume of 2.15b and a total value of S$1.80b. Total number of advance vs decline was 467 vs 102. Of the 30 component index stocks, 24 closed positive, 3 closed negative and 3 remained unchanged. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ +0.680
2. SIA +0.340
3. CityDev +0.340
4. SGX +0.310
5. UOB +0.220
The 3 loser component stocks were :-
1. DBS -0.040
2. SingTel -0.040
3. NOL -0.010
US markets closed firm up last Friday after series of better than expected corporate earnings for the week despite the possibility of CIT Group could be filed for bankruptcy. Asia bourses reacted with firm and positive opening and continued the rally from last week. Nikkei was closed for holiday today. SSE closed +2.42% and HSI +3.71%. STI continued the uptrend with a +1.04% close with heavy volume. Buying interest from bank, property, offshore/marine and SIA led the rally. S-Reits after last Friday positive result from A-Reits also firm up towards their respective earning announcement. US will have a series of corporate earnings mainly from tech stocks like Yahoo, TI, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, eBay, etc that will provide direction for US markets this week. In Singapore, K-Reit, CapitaComm, Kep T&T, Kepland, KepCorp, CapitaMall, etc will be announcing their earnings this week. Market at the moment is very focus on corporate earnings rather than economic data. Any better than expected earnings could see market continue the uptrend.
