FTSE STI closed 3,218.20, up 9.87 points or +0.31% with a total volume of 3.26b and a total value of S$954M. Total number of advance vs decline was 203 vs 186. Of the 30 component index stocks, 17 closed positive, 2 unchanged and 11 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ +0.740
2. DBS +0.190
3. SIA +0.090
4. OCBC +0.080
5. SGX +0.050
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C -0.400
2. HKLand US$ -0.080
3. CityDev -0.060
4. StarHub -0.040
5. SembMar -0.040
5. JSH 500US$ -0.040
US markets closed positive yesterday after US Fed Chairman's testimony. Asian bourses were mixed for the day with Nikkei +1.32%, SSE -1.05% and HSI -0.12%. STI crawled back some loss for the past 2 days with a +0.31% closing in another of those higher volume but thin value day. xx of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
The comment of US Fed has no "preset course" for tapering or halt of stimulus in US Fed Chairman's testimony did the trick for markets to tick up. It was something comforting to investors' ears but the underlying of US Fed stance still remain the same. US Fed will not taper and halt stimulus IF AND ONLY IF economic conditions allow it to do so. Somehow, people like to hear what they want to hear only and not any other thing. Why still focus on this, shouldn't we look beyond that ? Strangely, none of the analysts so far have come out to ask investors to look beyond the question of when will tapering start and shouldn't that be analysts priority responsibilities now ?
STI managed to crawl back some losses for the last 2 days with a +0.31% closing. However, major interest still in penny stocks as investors were still divided on the big caps and blue chips. Weakness in China economy was one of the drag. Singapore corporate earnings so far remain resilient resulting in current stock prices appeared to be relatively cheap with respect to their fundamental. In a tug-of-war between fundamental and sentiment, investors chose the latter thereby causing most stock prices directionless and range bound.
