FTSE STI closed 3,307.58, down 0.52 points or -0.02% with a total volume of 2.74b and a total value of S$792M. Total number of advance vs decline was 189 vs 228. Of the 30 component index stocks, 17 closed positive, 5 unchanged and 8 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ +1.380
2. JSH 500US$ +0.210
3. KepCorp +0.140
4. Jardine C&C +0.130
5. HKLand US$ +0.040
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. UOB -0.280
2. OCBC -0.130
3. DBS -0.120
4. SPH -0.040
5. ST Engg -0.020
5. SGX -0.020
US markets were closed last Friday for holiday and with little events happening over the weekend Asian bourses were mostly flat or in the red. Nikkei down 2.12%, SSE -0.10% and HSI was closed for holiday. STI practically flat with thin volume and value, total value came in less than S$1b. A bright spot was 17 out of 30 index stocks registered positive closing.
2 macro events happened today, Japan's Tankan (manufacture sentiment) missed estimate, China official PMI for March came in at 50.9, better than February but lower then estimate. The 2 set of sluggish data did not bring any incentive for investors to buy and mostly staying sideline to watch and wait for start of earning season and more positive catalysts.
STI was having a listless day with probably the thinnest volume so far this year and daily value came in less than S$1b. Most stocks were just moving within a narrow range. However, couple of events later this week might start to bring players back to the market. Japan BOJ meeting this Thursday in which most will be monitoring whether Japan is going to launch the so-called open-ended monetary easing, ECB meeting also on Thursday in which investors will be looking at ECB reaction to the recent Cyprus bailout. Friday is US non-farm payroll and that set of data will perhaps start to bring investors wondering when US Fed going to slow down the monetary easing. Market is not going to have big drop or breakout until some catalysts trigger it, one of them would be the incoming corporate earning which should be starting in 1.5 to 2 weeks time.
