FTSE STI closed 3,088.79, up 18.01 points or +0.59% with a total volume of 2.11b and a total value of S$1.10b. Total number of advance vs decline was 218 vs 190. Of the 30 component index stocks, 19 closed positive, 5 unchanged and 6 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C +1.050
2. JMH 400US$ +0.870
3. JSH 500US$ +0.590
4. UOB +0.170
5. SIA +0.160
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. Semb Corp -0.070
2. StarHub -0.050
3. Capitaland -0.030
4. ComfortDelGro -0.015
5. Genting SP -0.010
US markets closed mixed with mostly positive led by technology stocks. Asian bourses were also mixed for the day with majority managed to close positive. Nikkei -0.52%, SSE +1.11% and HSI +0.34%. STI edged up higher with +0.59% closing in moderate volume and value. 19 of the 30 index stocks recorded gain on close.
Not much of event from US while investors waiting for the US Fed FOMC minutes to be released tonight. In Asia, focus will be on China flash PMI data coming out later this week. At the moment there is a sense of ease with US Fed tapering as investors' risk appetite started to return and slowly nibbling into the stock markets. There was also observation that funds especially from US continue to take money off emerging markets. Question should be asked why till now and not last year then they selling off emerging markets. They should be the last one who do so and probably not the wiser one to do so too. Once those complete the selling, emerging markets will rebound next.
For STI, it was a rather bullish biased sentiment for the day especially for the penny stocks. Risk appetite is coming back despite some US funds still trying to sell off equity especially those S-Reits. Those are not the wiser funds after all. Like mentioned before, short-covering coupled with those fail to wait for pull back and fear of missing out will push the market higher in lack of convincing volume. Watch the S-Reits, they are gaining strength !!!
