FTSE STI closed 3,284.61, down 15.71 points or -0.46% with a total volume of 3.71b and a total value of S$1.31b. Total number of advance vs decline was 129 vs 282. Of the 30 component index stocks, 8 closed positive, 2 unchanged and 20 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. SGX +0.130
2. GLP +0.080
3. ST Engg +0.060
4. CityDev +0.050
5. SIA Engg +0.030
5. StarHub +0.030
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JSH 500US$ -0.670
2. JMH 400US$ -0.230
3. DBS -0.200
4. HKLand US$ -0.120
5. SIA -0.100
5. KepCorp -0.100
US markets closed down average 0.4% last Friday after a far worse than expected non-farm payroll data but managed to recover from 1% drop. Asian bourses were mixed for the day with Nikkei +2.80%, SSE -0.62% and HSI -0.04%. STI belongs to the group that fall into the red with thin volume and value and only 8 of the 30 index stocks managed to register positive closing.
US created only 88,000 jobs last Month far far lesser than the expected of 200,000 and with unemployment rate dipped to 7.6%. That set of data was a shocker to investors. The labor market still weak but with that can assure US Fed to continue maintain loose monetary policies. There were couple events that dragged on investors sentiment at the moment like North Korea's threat, sluggish economic data and China H7N9 bird flu worries (though WHO has not declare Red Alert on this but as of now 6 people in China died due to that). The probably only bright spot at the moment is BOJ unleashed US Fed QE type of easing which caused Yen to weaken further and rally the Nikkei. This week will be the start of earning season and that could dictate the direction of the market.
STI activity was pretty much muted and quiet as investors practically awaiting for catalysts like the corporate earning schedules to release this week. The outcome of the earning will probably affect all the stocks. Penny stocks have been under selling pressure despite having volume and awaiting for earning from the blue chips. Should the earning from blue chips getting firmer and not worse than expected, the buying interest should be returning for the penny stocks. Market in general might be biased towards the bearish side but watch out for market bottoming these 2 weeks and as for earning, look for improvement from quarters to quarters and not what analysts' expectation was.
