FTSE STI closed 3,312.47, down 33.08 points or -0.99% with a total volume of 1.35b and a total value of S$909M. Total number of advance vs decline was 96 vs 356. Of the 30 component index stocks, 3 closed positive, 2 unchanged and 25 in the red. The 3 gainer component stocks were :-
1. SembCorp +0.020
2. StarHub +0.020
3. ThaiBev +0.005
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C -0.400
2. JSH 500USD -0.390
3. UOB -0.240
4. DBS -0.240
5. CityDev -0.120
US markets closed down last Friday and Asian bourses were mixed for the day mostly in the red. Nikkei was closed for holiday, SSE +0.30% and HSI -0.97%. STI fell 0.99% in thin volume and value with only 3 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
It was the nervous and jittering ahead of US Fed FOMC meeting that caused global markets mostly in the. On top of that, the vote for Scotland independence this Thursday and Ukraine-Russia tension add on to that. For Asia, most of the markets weighed down by sentiment except for China as investors were anticipating for Chinese Government to announce another mini stimulus given the recent sluggish data (factory order announcing over the weekend were lower than expected).
For STI, it was merely tracking regional bourses. Market will be volatile and could swing either direction leading to the coming US Fed FOMC meeting. Short-sellers piling up when sentiment is bearish and they are the one who could turn market up again with their short-covering too. Most of the rate sensitive stocks (eg S-Reits) were under selling pressure today probably due to foreign funds deciding to sell off in anticipation of sooner than expected rate hike by US Fed. US Fed could raise interest rate as early as 1Q 2015 and that should not be a shocker to investors. Moreover, the yield from those S-Reits still attractive even if US Fed starts to hike rate.
