FTSE STI closed 3,253.24, up 24.53 points or +0.76% with a total volume of 1.12b and a total value of S$910M. Total number of advance vs decline was 245 vs 166. Of the 30 component index stocks, 20 closed positive, 4 unchanged and 6 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400USD +1.210
2. JSH 500USD +0.820
3. DBS +0.200
4. UOB +0.170
5. SGX +0.100
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C -0.210
2. Kep Corp -0.040
3. CityDev -0.040
4. GLP -0.010
5. ThaiBev -0.005
5. GoldenAgri -0.005
US markets closed flat yesterday and Asian bourses managed to rebound from past days of loss with Nikkei +0.30%, HSI +0.57% and SSE still closed for national holiday. STI closed +0.76% in thin volume and value with 20 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
It was a big disappointment day for investors when ECB failed to reveal the detail on the ABS purchase which most were anticipated. US posted a positive set of weekly jobless claims number, those figure last seen in 2006. Initially, US markets were sent for a drop of almost 1% after ECB no-show but managed an intra-day rebound to close flat. Asian bourses started the day all in the red with Hong Kong reopened after 2 days of holiday. However, all managed to follow US markets overnight and do an intra-day rebound to close positive. The Hong Kong pro-democracy protest issue still remain unresolved despite Honh Kong leader agreed to talk with protest leaders. Investors were looking at how China going to resolve that. Tonight will be the much awaited data investors looking to; US non-farm payroll. How the markets going to react to it is anybody guess. Should investors cheer a good set of data or instead continue the selling in fear of US Fed will hike interest rate sooner than expected.
STI on an intra-day basis rebound from the 3,220 level (very close to the 5% drop level from recent high) but on very thin volume. That was mainly due to short-seller closing short positions in ahead of the long weekend and in fear of US markets might did a strong rebound after the unemployment data. Most still sideline, getting cautious ahead of the data tonight and also the long weekend. However, look closely there is some very cautious accumulation on stocks that will be releasing their earning in 2 weeks times.
