1. Capitaland +0.040
2. SingTel +0.030
3. Jardine C&C +0.020
4. StarHub +0.020
5. OCBC +0.010
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JSH 500US$ -0.460
2. UOB -0.300
3. KepCorp -0.180
4. F&N -0.140
5. Wilmar -0.130
US markets closed mixed yesterday night with DJ and S&P500 posted gain while Nasdaq slight in the red after a better than expected jobless claims. However, after market closed JP Morgan revealed a US$2b loss in investment and that shocked the market with Asian bourses reacting negatively to it. Nikkei closed -0.63%, SSE -0.63% and HSI -1.30%. STI fell 0.70% in moderate volume with only 5 index stocks managed to register positive closing.
China today reported its April inflation came in +3.4% better than the month before of +3.6% below the Government target of 4% but retail sales in production data came in weaker than expected. Together with the JP Morgan issue weighed on Asian bourses and with weekend on sight, investors cashing out and staying sideline. There isn't lack of negative news for past days with EU election outcome, weak China economic data and now JP Morgan saga. Against a lacking of positive news, global markets without any doubts are biased towards the downside. Markets could biased towards the down side till mid or end of June before a reasonable rebound is on sight. Comes June, several important events are taking place that could provide direction for markets in 2H2012. Greece's election again if they failed to form a Government. EU Summit meeting end June when all eyes will be on how the new French President going to engage with rest of EU leaders in the austerity vs growth issue. Lastly, US Fed "operation twist" will expire in June and all eyes will be on US Fed meeting in June to see what's the next step from US Fed.
In Singapore, the last few batches of blue chips company's earning continued to roll out with mixed result. OCBC beats market expectation while the like of Noble, GoldenAgr and CityDev all produced a drop in profit.
