FTSE STI closed 3,078.20, up 2.28 points or +0.07% with a total volume of 1.82b and a total value of S$1.22b. Total number of advance vs decline was 191 vs 175. Of the 30 component index stocks, 12 closed positive, 6 unchanged and 12 closed negative. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C +1.030
2. HKLand US$ +0.170
3. SIA +0.070
4. OCBC +0.060
5. DBS +0.040
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ -0.250
2. KepCorp -0.110
3. JSH 500US$ -0.100
4. Olam -0.065
5. SembMar -0.050
5. ST Engg -0.050
5. F&N -0.050
US markets closed mixed yesterday due to mixture of events. Asian bourses were mixed for the day with Nikkei +0.81%, SSE -0.13% and HSI -0.09%. STI managed to reverse earlier loss and close +0.07% in moderate volume and thin value. 12 of the 30 index stocks registered positive closing.
US ADP data indicated private sector created lesser jobs than expected in November ahead of tomorrow unemployment data. President Obama confident of getting positive progress this week for the fiscal cliff lifted the markets but Nasdaq was weighed down by Apple hence closing in the red. Asian bourses were mixed with SSE and HSI subjected to profit taking after yesterday more than 2% rally. STI was much divided but managed to crawl back losses to close slight positive by last hour bargain hunting and short-covering. Though STI still stay afloat in the positive but the board market sentiment has changed. Defensive and high-yield stocks were seen selling pressure but there isn't any rotation to cyclical stocks either. Not a pretty good sign at the moment. A market capitulation could be happening soon and that will be bargain opportunity. Olam was again in the center of focus with share price falling another 4.3% today. Big questions definitely hanging over the capability of the management in restoring the company high debt level and negative cash flow status. Funds were also detecting selling off Olam share. The only way to save Olam now is whether the management has the correct strategy which stated in yesterday market summary. SC Global was the biggest gainer for today after its owner offers to buy the remaining of the share at $1.80/share so as to privatize. This move has created other property stocks with the potential of being privatized to move up.
