FTSE STI closed 3,057.86, down 2.48 points or -0.08% with a total volume of 1.50b and a total value of S$894M. Total number of advance vs decline was 198 vs 173. Of the 30 component index stocks, 9 closed positive, 9 unchanged and 12 closed negative. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. UOB +0.100
2. SembCorp +0.050
3. KepCorp +0.040
4. SIA Engg +0.040
5. ST Engg +0.030
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ -0.700
2. JSH 500US$ -0.270
3. CityDev -0.080
4. DBS -0.060
5. Wilmar -0.040
US markets closed down at least 0.3% last Friday. Asian bourses started 4Q 2012 in a quiet mode as most of the markets were closed for holiday. Nikkei down 0.83% and STI flat with thin volume at-0.08%. Only 9 of the 30 index stocks managed to register positive closing. SSE and HSI were closed for China National Day.
Couple of news these few days with Spain's bank stress test came in better than expected and China official September PMI came in 49.8, contraction but better than August. The lack of regional bourses direction caused STI to be flat as investors awaiting for this week events. ECB meeting and Friday US unemployment data.
4Q will be an interesting quarter and might be volatile too. Earning season will be starting in 2 weeks time and since for past 3 months global economy was almost in stall mode, corporate earning for 3Q could be affected and hence it will be wiser to lower expectation of the earning. 18th - 19th October will have a EU Summit and that is another event worth to monitor closing. EU leaders need to follow up on June EU Summit when they proposed 120b Euro to boost growth and that detail is very much in need for this coming Summit. The other issue on Banking Union might be in discussion too. November is US Presidential election and that is a wildcard event. Either of the candidate could win and that could affect the policies to recover US economy in particular the high unemployment. Next near the end of the year will be the fiscal cliff in which US will be facing. Should no proposed deficit reduction measures, next January auto budget cut mechanism will kick in across the board. Do keep option open that market could hit another bottom probably in December and thereby rebound to form the last leg of the bull market.
