FTSE STI closed 3,009.56, down 2.69 points or -0.09% with a total volume of 1.26b and a total value of S$1.34b. Total number of advance vs decline was 120 vs 240. Of the 30 component index stocks, 10 closed positive, 5 unchanged and 15 closed negative. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JSH 500US$ +1.360
2. JMH 400US$ +0.490
3. DBS +0.220
4. F&N +0.090
5. Wilmar +0.050
5. SIA +0.050
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. KepCorp -0.230
2. Jardine C&C -0.200
3. Noble Grp -0.100
4. SembCorp -0.050
5. CityDev -0.050
US markets again fell average 1% yesterday night as concern of fiscal cliff outweighed some better than expected economic data. Asian bourses continued the selling but managed to pare some losses upon closing and closed all in the red. Nikkei -0.90%, SSE -0.12% and HSI -0.85%. STI managed to inch back some losses and closed flat with a 0.09% drop in moderate volume. 10 of the 30 index stocks managed to register positive closing.
The fear of fiscal cliff sending US to recession continued and on top of that Greece potentially could be default also came into picture. EU Finance Ministers will be delaying releasing the bailout fund to Greece as they are waiting for Troika report despite Greek Government passed the latest austerity measures bill to cut its debt. Greece will be running out of money in 16 November and the deadline for payment is on 21st November. Should no bailout fund given then, Greece could well go into default.
There was some bright spot in Asia this morning. China October inflation figure came in at +1.7% compared with +1.9% in September and below estimate of +1.8%. This has given some room for the Chinese Government to put up measures to boost growth. China Government at the moment is in its leadership transition phase till 14th November. There is some amount of uncertainty but should not be a shocker.
Coming back to the fiscal cliff, the Hurricane Sandy could be the key to speed up the resolving of fiscal cliff issue. With the damage from the hurricane, US Government is no doubt in need of money to rebuild and that could give some pressure to the lawmakers to speed on in working something out for the fiscal cliff.
Investors DO NOT MISS this market bottom due to the fiscal cliff. Do think ahead of the market and not following the pace of it. Take this opportunity to select the stocks to buy and wait for the entry price. Should the entry price hit, just have to stomach the volatility and ride it out. Should entry price fails to hit, should there be a fearful and panic selling day, just have to hit the buy button. Market should hit bottom in December.
