FTSE STI closed at 3,050.93, up 5.26 points or +0.17% with a total volume of 1.67b and a total value of S$930M. Total number of advance vs decline was 152 vs 229. Of the 30 component index stocks, 13 closed positive, 2 unchanged and 15 closed negative. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ +2.100
2. Jardine C&C +0.500
3. Capitaland +0.050
4. KepCorp +0.050
5. SembCorp +0.030
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. CityDev -0.150
2. JSH 500US$ -0.090
3. SIA -0.080
4. UOB -0.080
5. ST Engg -0.050
US markets managed to edge out gain from last 2 hours of trading after the sharp sell off last Friday. Corporate earnings still weak in particular the forecast for US. Asian bourses were mixed for the day. Nikkei +0.04%, SSE -0.86% and HSI was closed for holiday. STI closed +0.17% in thin volume day with 13 of the 30 index stocks managed to register positive closing.
Corporate earnings continues to be weak as investors head into US Fed meeting today. Outcome of that should not be any surprise though. Asian bourses without much catalysts were pretty much flat.
Singapore reported September inflation this afternoon coming in at +4.7% vs expectation of +4.3%. STI though gave up some of the gain in the afternoon after European bourses and US future sank into the red due to corporate earnings missing expectation but still managed to close positive mainly contributed by JMH which rose US$2.10 pushing up the index to close positive.
Investors came in bargain hunting in the morning but soon sold off in the afternoon given the weak performance from European bourses. While in general, STI might not be cheap but there are still value could be found in some stocks. It is all up to investors to hunt for the cheap stocks and have the ability to stomach short-term volatility. by pure following and speculating how STI will perform next and buying into stocks with limited upside will be getting nowhere and eventually being squeezed out.
