FTSE STI closed 3,315.60, down 18.96 points or -0.57% with a total volume of 1.12b and a total value of S$1.04b. Total number of advance vs decline was 147 vs 263. Of the 30 component index stocks, 6 closed positive, 3 unchanged and 21 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400USD +0.510
2. HongkongLand USD +0.040
3. Genting SP +0.015
4. SPH +0.010
5. UOB +0.010
5. Wilmar +0.010
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C -0.630
2. DBS -0.160
3. OCBC -0.150
4. KepCorp -0.120
5. JSH 500USD -0.060
US markets closed down yesterday after US Fed minutes. Asian bourses started and end the day in mixed. Nikkei +0.07%, SSE +0.07% and HSI -0.10%. STI dropped 0.57% in typical volume and value than past days with only 6 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
US Fed FOMC minutes for last month mentioned about concern of inflation (low inflation) instead of the normal job market to justify for raising interest rate. That caught investors off-guard and confuse and caused US markets to drop while they trying to digest the underlying meaning of that. Asian markets were mixed after mixed news of economic data from Japan and China. Japan export rose 9.6% above the expectation of 4.5% but China HSBC flash PMI for November came in at 50, fall short of expectation. Together with the weak lead from US markets overnight, tradings were swinging between gain and loss to eventually close mixed.
STI was faced with profit taking given the weak cue from global markets. Short-term traders and punters were mostly on the sell side either to lock in profit or cut loss. Bargain hunting given the weak global markets were on cautious mode. Weakness to STI might continue for the next few days but it merely doing consolidation mode.
