Market Summary -- 26th Jul 12

FTSE STI closed 3,004.57, up 13.65 points or +0.46% with a total volume of 1.46b and a total value of S$1.46b.  Total number of advance vs decline was 182 vs 175.  Of the 30 component index stocks, 20 closed positive, 1 remained unchanged and 9 closed negative.  The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-

1. JMH 400US$  +1.790

2. UOB  +0.280

3. Jardine C&C  +0.240
4. SIA  +0.210

5. JSH 500US$  +0.180

The top 5 loser component stocks were :-

1. Wilmar  -0.120

2. SembCorp  -0.110

3. Genting SP  -0.065

4. HKLand US$  -0.060

5. KepCorp  -0.030

US markets closed mixed due to mixture of corporate earning with Apple missing expectation while Catepillar beating expectation.  Asian bourses mostly closed positive with Nikkei +0.92%, SSE -0.47% and HSI +0.08%.  STI among one of the better performer closed +0.46% with moderate volume and value.  20 of the 30 index stocks registered positive closing.

News of ECB might act tonight for Spain bailout, Singapore June manufacturing came in better than expected +7.6% vs +3.2% expected and firmer corporate earning attracting bargain hunter back to STI.  Again high-yield defensive stocks were the better performing one and majority of them are hitting new 52 week high especially the S-Reit even after being XD.  This further enhanced the notion that funds are parking the money inside those stocks to build a base for their portfolio.  The next could be switching to higher-beta and cyclical stocks to get capital gain.

On global events, EU situation on Spain and Greece both are not new events so nothing to be over panicked about.  While sentiment might be on the positive side now, do keep option opens and bare in mind that October to December market could be facing a downtrend in which December will be hitting another bottom.  Another opportunity to bargain hunt.  In additional, do not get overly optimistic and starts chasing prices, short-term wise, doing that will get caught.