FTSE STI closed 3,041.75, up 9.09 points or +0.30% with a total volume of 1.41b and a total value of S$1.08b. Total number of advance vs decline was 194 vs 151. Of the 30 component index stocks, 14 closed positive, 3 unchanged and 13 closed negative. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ +1.600
2. JSH 500US$ +0.650
3. Jardine C&C +0.600
4. Wilmar +0.110
5. DBS +0.040
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. SembCorp -0.090
2. UOB -0.060
3. SIA -0.050
4. KepCorp -0.050
5. CityDev -0.050
US markets closed mixed yesterday as investors still weigh down by weak corporate earning and cut in global growth target offsetting jobless claim fell to 4 years low. Asian bourses were mixed for the day with Nikkei -0.15%, SSE +0.10% and HSI +0.65%. STI after 4 days of loss managed to close +0.30% in thin volume. 14 of the 30 index stocks posted positive closing.
In general investors wanting to bargain hunt and at the same time maintain cautious stance ahead of corporate earning (bank earning for US tonight). Corporate earnings were not expected to be good in general due to past quarter of global slowed down. Corporate forecast also have no reason to be optimistic given all the uncertainties in global events. However, that should not be a reason to be overly pessimistic either. Global situation can change anything should a sudden fiscal policies being introduced by lawmakers global. Maintain cautiously optimistic.
Next week will be another eventful week as China will have series of economic data like trade, inflation and GDP to release on top of EU Summit. The Chinese economic data should give sign of what type of stimulus will the new leadership going to roll out next month and EU Summit should be focused on policies and measures to boost growth.
Singapore released its final 2Q GDP this morning coming in at -1.5% on quarter vs expectation of -1.0% and +1.3% on year vs +1.2% expected. Technical recession was avoided and inflation for 2012 was expected to be slightly above 4.5%.
Singapore begins its earning season today with SPH being the first to announce its earning and more to come next week. While no expectation of good set of result from most of the companies, the one to watch will be those resilience companies ability to stay resilience in earning for the past quarters.
