FTSE STI closed 3,183.44, up 22.01 points or +0.70% with a total volume of 1.82b and a total value of S$1.12b. Total number of advance vs decline was 237 vs 146. Of the 30 component index stocks, 20 closed positive, 2 unchanged and 8 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ +1.610
2. JSH 500US$ +1.200
3. HKLand US$ +0.240
4. Kep Corp +0.110
5. Wilmar +0.110
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. DBS -0.110
2. Jardine C&C -0.030
3. GLP -0.030
4. OCBC -0.020
5. SIA -0.010
5. CapitaMall -0.010
US markets closed down at least 0.5% last Friday. Asian bourses mostly managed to rebound from last week selling off with Nikkei +2.73%, SSE -0.25% and HSI +1.22%. STI rose 0.70% in another thin volume and value day. 20 of the 30 index stocks posted positive closing.
It was the case of jittering ahead of the coming US FOMC meeting that caused US markets to close in the red last Friday. Asian bourses managed to rebound but investors still cautious ahead of the FOMC meeting. US Fed should maintain its stance on the monetary policy that is warn of the risk of the stimulus and at the same time stress that at the moment it is still not the time to withdraw it. As for whether it will taper or when will it start to taper probably is what most investors want to know. The tapering should be a good piece of news as it indicating US economy is strong enough to stand on its own to recover.
Singapore reported its May non-oil export data this morning coming in at -4.6% on year vs an expectation of -0.3%. The set of data was mainly dragged down by the electronics export which fell 13.2% on year. There is nothing to be pessimistic about it as the Singapore export activities will be sluggish for quite some time. While US Fed might be able to calm the market, do keep an eye on end of the month 1H2013 window dressing by fund managers. With the recent sharp sell down and should US Fed able to calm investors, a window dressing rally will materialize as fund managers have no choice but to crawl themselves back into the stock markets again and not to mention the impact of short covering.
