FTSE STI closed 3,143.87, down 1.54 points or -0.05% with a total volume of 3.68b and a total value of S$964M. Total number of advance vs decline was 186 vs 213. Of the 30 component index stocks, 13 closed positive, 7 unchanged and 10 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JSH 500US$ +0.200
2. HKLand US$ +0.090
3. Jardine C&C +0.040
4. DBS +0.030
5. Semb Corp +0.030
5. SPH +0.030
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ -0.240
2. UOB -0.120
3. SGX -0.050
4. SembMar -0.030
5. Kep Corp -0.030
US markets again closed mixed yesterday after better than expected jobless claims data. Asian bourses were also mixed for the day with Nikkei +0.20%, SSE -0.71% and HSI +0.26%. STI was flat with a -0.05% closing moderate volume but thin value. 13 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
A better than expected weekly jobless claims in US signaling the labor market recovery ahead of tonight non-farm payroll. There is a catch now, a continue improving unemployment situation will allow the US Fed to launch a second taper this year. Do investors expect a second tapering ? China released its trade data this morning with its trade surplus falling below expectation. Export activities dropped in December while import rose more than expected. That was the reason for the weakness in SSE. US also started earning season yesterday with Alcoa reported a miss expectation earning after the bell.
STI with regional bourses mixed was directionless. Weakness was in penny stocks due to profit taking or "panic cut loss". Those who chased up the prices past days, failing to sell when market was up and with global markets all in the mixed are starting to feel the "must sell before it turns to loss" scenario and that caused penny stocks to be weak. There was also short-selling covering their short position at those last few minutes of market closed. STI started earning season yesterday with SPHREIT, a result better than its forecast. That now "confuse" that who were very negative towards S-Reits in the past months (or rather they were so so wrong then without realizing it). More earning will be rolling out next week and that is what investors should be focusing on, not the past quarter result but the future forecast from the company.
