FTSE STI closed 3,011.91, up 7.41 points or +0.25% with a total volume of 2.83b and a total value of S$1.09b. Total number of advance vs decline was 165 vs 185. Of the 30 component index stocks, 9 closed negative, 3 unchanged and 18 closed positive. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. CityDev +0.230
2. UOB +0.210
3. DBS +0.190
4. KepCorp +0.130
5. SIA +0.090
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JSH 500US$ -0.930
2. Jardine C&C -0.650
3. HKLand US$ -0.120
4. Olam -0.100
5. CapitaMall -0.030
US markets closed mixed with both DJ and S&P500 in the red while Nasdaq holding up. Asian bourses also mixed for the day with Nikkei +0.37%, SSE -1.30% and HSI -0.08%. STI advanced 0.25% in heavy volume but thin total value. 18 of the 30 index stocks managed to register positive closing.
EU Finance Ministers finally agreed to release the bailout funds to Greece and that piece of news slightly lifted the sentiment. However, should Greece unable to improve on its debt level, somewhere down the road, another request for bailout is possible. Current probably just a short-term solution as Greece has till 2022 to meet its debt to GDP target. With one uncertainty moving aside, investors should be solely focusing on the US fiscal cliff. Nothing to be overly bullish or bearish about now until the detail of the compromise or plan to avoid the fiscal cliff being released.
STI as usual dominated with penny and micro-penny stock play as cautious kicks in on the blue chips. Muddy Waters finally released its research report on Olam and that caused share price of Olam to fall 6%. How Olam response and what other analysts said about it, as a retail investor, better to be cautious. Though several analysts have made call to buy on weakness, do advise it is better not to listen to those analysts.
