FTSE STI closed 3,229.91, up 5.02 points or +0.16% with a total volume of 2.12b and a total value of S$1.09b. Total number of advance vs decline was 209 vs 242. Of the 30 component index stocks, 12 closed positive, 4 unchanged and 14 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JSH 500US$ +0.440
2. DBS +0.110
3. OCBC +0.080
4. UOB +0.060
5. JMH 400US$ +0.050
5. StarHub +0.050
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C -0.310
2. Kep Corp -0.050
3. HKLand US$ -0.050
4. SGX -0.030
5. GLP -0.030
5. CityDev -0.030
5. Capitaland -0.030
US markets fell average 0.6% yesterday as investors taking profit after recent ran up. Asian bourses were mostly down for the day with Nikkei -4.00% due to Yen strengthening, SSE -0.67% and HSI -1.53%. STI was flat for the day swinging between gain and loss, eventually closed +0.16% before the long holiday. Daily volume and value were thin as expected and 12 of the 30 index stocks registered positive closing.
It was the same old story again and again of fear of US Fed tapering with recent strong set of economic data, that has every right a good excuse to take profit after recent ran up. Other than that, absolutely nothing new. The underlying is still market in range bound mode.
STI going into the last trading day of the week with thin volume and value as expected as investors see no incentive to take risk of having position over the long holiday. Whatever that have ran up lately were nice to take profit. Furthermore those on short position also closing off. With no buyers willing to take up the price, the short covering will have no choice but to buy back at higher price thereby pushing the market to the positive region. Though the risk of having a position over the long weekend is high as can never know what will happen the next few days, the gain comes with it if corrects will be high too.
