FTSE STI closed 3,344.42, down 29.64 points or -0.88% with a total volume of 1.62b and a total value of S$1.26b. Total number of advance vs decline was 121 vs 347. Of the 30 component index stocks, 5 closed positive, 4 unchanged and 21 in the red. The 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. SGX +0.110
2. DBS +0.090
3. HongkongLand USD +0.080
4. SIA Engg +0.020
5. GLP +0.010
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. UOB -0.980
2. JMH 400USD -0.930
3. SIA -0.330
4. JSH 500USD -0.330
5. Jardine C&C -0.200
US markets tumbled average 2% overnight and Asian bourses were all under selling pressure with Nikkei -0.63%, SSE -0.74% and HSI -0.91%. STI fell 0.88% in higher volume and value with only 5 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
Fear of interest rate hike might be sooner and Argentina default strike fear in the market causing US indices to fell average 2%. For Asia, despite some good news from China PMI data coming in at 51.7, 27-month high as compared to 51 in the previous month, it was overshadowed by the fear factor. Asian bourses all ended in the red. Investors will also be nervous for tonight US non-farm payroll data which US Fed has been linking it to decide on rate hike.
For STI, it gave up all the gain yesterday though yesterday gain was due to month end window dressing. Selling was across the board. With majority of the blue chips already announced their quarterly earning, investors have little to look forwards to and with STI hitting 18-month high, any bad news will lead to correction and pull back. A pull back of 3% from its recent high is possible and if global markets decided to play on the fear of interest rate hike theme, a pull back of 5% to 7% is on the card.
