FTSE STI closed 3,367.47, down 38.61 points or -1.13% with a total volume of 4.15b and a total value of S$1.87b. Total number of advance vs decline was 143 vs 294. Of the 30 component index stocks, 4 closed positive, 2 unchanged and 24 in the red. The 4 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JSH 500US$ +0.050
2. SIA Engg +0.030
3. SIA +0.020
4. SGX +0.010
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C -1.960
2. JMH 400US$ -0.390
3. HKLand US$ -0.250
4. DBS -0.150
5. OCBC -0.140
US markets closed average +0.70% after better than expected new Home Sales and Consumer Confident data. Asian bourses were mixed for the day with Nikkei +0.10%, SSE +0.12% and HSI -1.61%. STI unfortunately fell into the red after opening positive. Daily volume was higher at more than 4 billion but daily value remained thin. Only 4 of the 30 index stocks managed to register positive closing.
The beginning of the day was cheered by the positive sentiment from US overnight while as the days progressed profit taking kicked in result in regional bourses closing mixed. End of the month is just days away and no surprising fund managers choosing to lock in profit for their portfolio for the month end window dressing before going on holiday in June. What will be happening is interesting with focus on the US Fed FOMC meeting. Should US Fed signals possible tapering on the stimulus markets can expect a pull back of 3% to 5%. However, if US Fed does not signal tapering off sooner then investors will flow back to the stock markets in search of yield return.
For STI it was a kind of broad base selling off of the high-yield stocks and this could be only so when fund managers paring off stake to lock in realized gain for month end window dressing. Be expecting volatile days from now till end of the month. Markets might be biased towards selling till outcome of US Fed meeting, should the price being sold down to a much more attractive valuation, it will attract bargain hunting. As usual, a drop in price of the high-yield stocks that result in yield hike of 3% to 5% will be attractive.
