FTSE STI closed 3,214.83, up 16.61 points or +0.52% with a total volume of 1.80b and a total value of S$870M. Total number of advance vs decline was 239 vs 198. Of the 30 component index stocks, 18 closed positive, 6 unchanged and 6 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JSH 500US$ +1.090
2. Jardine C&C +0.910
3. JMH 400US$ +0.630
4. HKLand US$ +0.150
5. UOB +0.120
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. SPH -0.080
2. Wilmar -0.040
3. Noble -0.025
4. SembMar -0.010
5. GoldenAgr -0.005
5. CapitaMall -0.005
US markets fell average 1% last Friday after corporate earning. Asian bourses were mixed for the day with Nikkei -0.36%, SSE +0.05% and HSI +0.15%. STI fared better than regional bourses with a +0.52% closing but with thin volume and value. 18 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
JPMorgan reported a worst than expected set of earning and that triggered another round of selling off in US markets last Friday. Over the weekend, the Ukraine issue resurfaced again with UN having a close down meeting this morning regarding that. The next few days market might have reaction to the Ukraine issue if there is lacking of positive events. Asia markets were mixed given the lack of lead. SSE and HSI managed to stay positive due to the SSE and HSI linkup potential.
Singapore reported its 1Q2014 GDP this morning coming in at +5.1% in line with expectation, that pretty much cushion STI from trading in the negative region. Another news of the day was Capitaland offer of $2.22/share to takeover CapMallsAsia (both counters were on trading halt for the day). With most shy away from the micro-penny stocks (given the CAD investigation), the focus could be switching to which one will be next to be M&A. SPH released its earning last Friday (the first blue chip) to kick start Singapore earning season, the result apart from the one-off gain was worst than expected and this week more earning will be releasing keeping investors focus on them. It is never a wise move to listen to analysts expectation of earning, on what basis that their analysis is not wrong ? The way to look at earning will be comparing past quarters and see how the company fare.
