FTSE STI closed 3,297.37, up 6.23 points or +0.19% with a total volume of 3.30b and a total value of S$1.62b. Total number of advance vs decline was 222 vs 263. Of the 30 component index stocks, 15 closed positive, 6 closed negative and 9 closed negative. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C +0.840
2. UOB +0.400
3. SIA +0.200
4. DBS +0.140
5. JSH 500US$ +0.130
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ -0.780
2. Capitaland -0.050
3. CapMallsAsia -0.040
4. SembMar -0.030
5. ST Engg -0.030
5. SingTel -0.030
US markets rose at least 1% last Friday with both DJ and S&P500 hitting new 5 years high, DJ closed above 14,000 after the non-farm payroll data. Asian bourses openly positive but close mix with Nikkei +0.62%, SSE +0.38% and HSI -0.16%. STI opened aboe 3,300 but fail to stay above that closing +0.19% at 3,297.37. Volume and value were thin and 15 of the 30 index stocks posted positive closing.
US job data for January came in pretty in line with expectation, unemployment rate rose to 7.9% but the revision for past 2 months brought cheers to investors. Over the weekend, China announced its official service PMI coming in better than expectation and continued to show expansion. These 2 news providing the positive sentiment for Asian bourses on open but all failed to hold on to the gain as investors sell into strength, taking profit ahead of the Chinese New Year.
For STI the big cap stocks and high-yield stocks were driving the market in the upside but the rest of the stocks were subjected to selling pressure after 1 month of rally. Further softening of the market is expected leading towards the Chinese New Year break.
