FTSE STI closed 3,235.68, down 39.08 points or -1.19% with a total volume of 3.69b and a total value of S$1.22b. Total number of advance vs decline was 195 vs 238. Of the 30 component index stocks, 3 closed positive, 3 unchanged and 24 in the red. The 3 gainer component stocks were :-
1. ComfortDelGro +0.035
2. Capitaland +0.010
3. HKLand US$ +0.010
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ -2.210
2. Jardine C&C -1.220
3. UOB -0.480
4. JSH 500US$ -0.250
5. Kep Corp -0.190
US markets mostly fell last night due to concern of earnings. Asian bourses were all in the red with Nikkei -1.14%, SSE -0.60% and HSI -0.31%. STI after closing positive for the past 2 sessions surrendered those gain with a 1.19% drop. Volume was relatively heavy along with thin value with majority of the stocks in the red. Only 3 of the 30 index stocks managed to register positive closing.
Now investors focused on corporate earnings and with US markets hitting fresh high for past days, psychological kicked in, taking concern of corporate earnings as excuse to take profit. In the first place, did US markets warren fresh high ? Many of those probably due to again overly optimistic. It won't be surprised investors will shift back to focus on whether US Fed will taper or not sooner than expected.
STI with investors taking profit across the broad giving up almost all of the gain from past 2 days. Volume was heavy due to the newly IPO SPHREIT and OUE HT. Taking those 2 out, volume probably shrank to the normal thin side. Big caps and blue chips were mainly the causality for the day after past 2 days of moving up. However, S-Reits, the target for May to June sell off due to fear of US Fed tapering and interest rate were the most resilient for the day as their latest earnings showed that they are able to maintain their earning and should there be interest rate hike, the impact will not be great. Sentiment vs fundamental, sentiment wise caused STI to drop but not fundamental.
