1. DBS +0.130
2. SGX +0.070
3. StarHub +0.070
4. GLP +0.030
5. HKLand US$ +0.030
5. OCBC +0.030
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C -0.980
2. JMH 400US$ -0.830
3. JSH 500US$ -0.350
4. UOB -0.100
5. SingTel -0.060
5. KepCorp -0.060
US markets rose again yesterday night backed by firm corporate earning despite jobless claims rose more than expected. Asian bourses were on a profit taking mode ahead of the weekend. Nikkei closed -1.43%, SSE -0.74% and HSI +0.42%. STI after past 4 sessions of closing positive, the profit taking dominated and caused it to close -0.44% in slightly thin volume. 21 of the 30 index stocks closed in the red.
EU Spanish bailout resurfaced to cause some tension to the markets. Given the past few sessions of strong upward movement, investors taking that as excuse to take profit. Couple of firm earnings released past days from Singapore companies also didn't provide much catalyst for the stocks to move further up as prices were played up and factoring in all the good news. The talking point for STI today was Heineken to make offer for all APB shares for a takeover after past days of ThaiBev buying into F&N shares from OCBC and Great Eastern. Both F&N and APB shares were halted for the day. Those should be in focus come next Monday when trading halt will be lifted.
While investors were chalking up stocks for past sessions for earning play, do be cautious that after results are ourt,. there could be no more further catalysts for the prices to move up. Short-term investors should start to taking profit from next week onwards. Market will be back into consolidation mode from mid-Aug onwards.
