FTSE STI closed 3,293.25, down 3.32 points or -0.10% with a total volume of 2.94b and a total value of S$1.21b. Total number of advance vs decline was 264 vs 147. Of the 30 component index stocks, 17 closed positive, 1 unchanged and 12 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. SIA Engg +0.090
2. KepCorp +0.080
3. ST Engg +0.080
4. OCBC +0.060
5. SIA +0.040
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ -0.740
2. Jardine C&C -0.620
3. JSH 500US$ -0.320
4. UOB -0.180
5. CityDev -0.090
US markets closed positive last night with 0.3% gain as investors' sentiment brighten ahead of corporate earning. Asian bourses were however mixed with mostly positive. Nikkei +0.73%, SSE +0.02% and HSI +0.75%. STI however was on the negative side in another thin volume and value day. 17 of the 30 index stocks managed to register positive closing.
North Korea's threat of starting a war, China H7N9 bird flu hit with another death and surprised China trade deficit announced this morning were some of the negative news that weighed on investors against the positive news of BOJ's QE and potentially resilience set of corporate earning. STI failed to rebound as investors not willing to take up fresh position ahead of corporate earning. The only bright spot was high-yield stocks in which investors are snapping up ahead of dividend distribution. Penny stocks were mixed but for those which fell, the downside should be limited. Note also, there appeared to be a rush of short covering near closing for STI, this will be interesting as these 2 weeks can be the defining moment for STI. STI was in the red due to dragging down by Jardine group of stocks and that is nothing a very deceiving indicator should one just plain looking at STI index value to determine direction of STI. Again, this is the period to watch for market bottoming and nothing else.
