FTSE STI closed 3,286.05, up 6.55 points or +0.20% with a total volume of 7.09b and a total value of S$2.56b. Total number of advance vs decline was 254 vs 178. Of the 30 component index stocks, 13 closed positive, 3 unchanged and 14 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JSH 500US$ +2.850
2. JMH 400US$ +1.270
3. OCBC +0.190
4. UOB +0.190
5. DBS +0.170
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C -0.480
2. CityDev -0.410
3. HKLand US$ -0.240
4. SIA -0.220
5. Capitaland -0.150
US markets closed positive again with DJ making 10 days in a row breaking new high and S&P500 was just 2 points away from 2007 high. Asian bourses mostly positive for the day with Nikkei +1.45%, SSE +0.36% and HSI -0.38%. STI closed positive with a 0.20% in heavier volume and value. 13 of the 30 index stocks posted positive closing.
Couple of events happening now till next week worth watching. EU Summit today till weekend and next Tuesday - Wednesday FOMC meeting. While should not expecting any negative events from EU Summit, there is also lacking of very positive news. However, FOMC meeting next week will be more interesting. Past weeks have seen mixed of news coming from FOMC meeting in which in the last FOMC meeting minutes, several of the FOMC members have the thought of easing monetary this year while Fed Chief's testimonial to the Congress lately assure of monetary easing this year. It will be a 50-50 events in which market could go either direction after the FOMC meeting depending on what investors choose to focus on. Long and short prior to the meeting carry equal risk. China today officially named Xi Jinping and Le Keqiang as the new President and Premier respectively for the once in a decade leadership change over.
STI was dominated with penny stocks play. Rebound of the penny stocks were observed across the board. It could be the short squeeze in which was mentioned earlier this week or interest rotate back to pennies after badly beaten down past days. Either way, do not expect pennies to scale new high at current rebound, the most hit the recent high and pull back again. This should be a signal for investors to watch out for pennies especially those with good fundamental, a signal to slowly accumulate on weakness. There were some erotic trading activities with big volume buying up or selling down on close. Big selling down were observed in property and commodity stocks dragging down STI index. Big buying up were observed in banking and offshore/marine stocks. Weakness in property stocks was due to February home sales data dropped 65% and feared of another round of Government cooling measures might announce. Defensive stocks especially S-Reits continued to see selling pressure, could be a signal rotating out to seek for riskier asset class. In general, accumulate fundamental strong stocks on weakness from now till June before the next lap to scale new high to ride the last leg of the bull run.
