FTSE STI closed 2,862.29, up 22.75 points or +0.80% with a total volume of 1.65b and a total value of S$1.55b. Total number of advance vs decline was 360 vs 152. Of the 30 component index stocks, 23 closed positive, 5 closed negative and 2 remained unchanged. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. SIA +0.540
2. JMH 400US$ +0.340
3. UOB +0.120
4. JSH 500US$ +0.100
5. SGX +0.070
The 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C -0.060
2. SIA Engg -0.040
3. Capitaland -0.030
4. SMRT -0.010
5. SPH -0.010
US markets continued to move up despite lack of economic data and closed marginally in the positive. Asia bourses were mixed with the lack of direction from US. Nikkei closed -0.04%, SSE -0.66% and HSI +0.003%. STI however was much stronger than other regional bourses with investors snapping up those blue chips making 23 out of 30 component index stocks closed in the positive. Investors will be looking at Jobless claims, International Trade ( tomorrow night ), Retail Sales and Consumer sentiment ( Friday night ) data for more direction of the stock markets.
