FTSE STI closed 3,290.47, down 10.57 points or -0.32% with a total volume of 10.55b and a total value of S$1.69b. Total number of advance vs decline was 247 vs 222. Of the 30 component index stocks, 11 closed positive, 6 unchanged and 13 closed negative. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JHMH 400US$ +0.400
2. JSH 500US$ +0.390
3. KepCorp +0.040
4. OCBC +0.030
5. SIA +0.030
5. StarHub +0.030
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C -0.120
2. SingTel -0.100
3. DBS -0.090
4. HKLand US$ -0.060
5. CityDev -0.050
US markets closed mixed yesterday and Asian bourses were mostly positive. Nikkei +0.50%, SSE still close for holiday and HSI reopened playing catch-up closed +0.85%. STI after yesterday almost 1% gain gave back 0.32% in a whopping super heavy volume of more than 10b but very thin value. 11 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
US President Obama in his yesterday State of the Union address emphasized again the need for job creations to save its economy and today couple of countries reported their 4Q GDP (Japan, Germany and France) all coming in shrank more than expected. That perhaps caused some concern of the global economy. The unexpected shrink in Japan GDP further enhanced the need of stimulus while the data from Europe signified EU debt crisis is not over.
SingTel reported its earning this morning with a 8% drop in profit missing expectation and causing the share to fall 2.78% dragging down STI. Profit taking after yesterday almost 1% gain also only investors mind as global data has turned them to be cautious. The whopping 10b volume purely indicating lot of punting activities in the penny stocks. Is that super heavy volume a warning sign of overheating in STI ? Time to be cautious !!!