FTSE STI closed 2,989.26, down 6.64 points or -0.22% with a total volume of 1.05b and a total value of S$901M. Total number of advance vs decline was 180 vs 150. Of the 30 component index stocks, 10 closed positive, 2 unchanged and 18 closed negative. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C +0.130
2. DBS +0.080
3. SPH +0.060
4. F&N +0.050
5. SIA Engg +0.030
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ -0.310
2. JSH 500US$ -0.250
3. CityDev -0.170
4. SembCorp -0.070
5. SIA -0.060
US markets closed mixed yesterday night with investors cautious ahead of tonight ECB meeting. Asian bourses mostly positive with Nikkei +0.01%, SSE +0.70% and HSI +0.34%. STI unfortunately unable to close positive for the day down 0.22% in thin volume day. 10 of the 30 index stocks just managed to register positive closing.
It is the "D-Day" for Europe, probably with ECB meeting tonight and expectation was for ECB to announce detail of bond buying program. Other aspects like detail of supervision role for Banking Union as well as another interest rate cut are also possible. European bourses were mostly positive ahead of that ECB event. While not ruling out the bond buying and other measures, do note that those are just credit crunch short-term prevention and not long term solution to the fiscal problems EU is facing.
