FTSE STI closed 3,279.50, down 9.02 points or -0.27% with a total volume of 5.93b and a total value of S$1.30b. Total number of advance vs decline was 266 vs 157. Of the 30 component index stocks, 11 closed positive, 4 unchanged and 15 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. OCBC +0.100
2. UOB +0.080
3. DBS +0.040
4. Wilmar +0.040
5. SingTel +0.040
5. SIA Engg +0.040
5. ST Engg +0.040
5. SPH +0.040
The top 5 loser component index stocks were :-
1. JSH 500US$ -1.790
2. Jardine C&C -1.320
3. JMH 400US$ -1.270
4. CityDev -0.090
5. HKLand US$ -0.080
US markets closed slight positive yesterday with DJ breaking new high for the 9th session in a row. Asian bourses were mixed initially but managed to close positive for most of them. Nikkei +1.16%, SSE +0.28% and HSI +0.28%. STI however was on the wrong side as compared with regional bourses closing down 0.27% in slight heavy volume but thin value. 11 of the 30 index stocks managed to register positive closing.
A better than expected retail sales data helped US markets to overcome regional bourses weakness yesterday and closing positive. DJ was 9 days in a row creating new high and S&P500 just few points away from 2007 high. STI reaction was pretty muted as most activity again fall on the penny stocks in which most of them enjoyed a rebound from the recent sell down. Though stocks were mostly up but met with selling pressure as investors taking the opportunity of rebound to sell. Another observation was defensive stocks like S-Reits were undergoing selling pressure for these few days. Investors have to be cautious in buying those falling S-Reits, current price yield is not attractive and upside is pretty much limited. A rule of thumb is to wait for the price to drop to a level such that the dividend yield move back up to between 0.3% to 0.5% from their recent low.
