FTSE STI closed 3,340.53, down 4.79 points or -0.14% with a total volume of 1.48b and a total value of S$1.07b. Total number of advance vs decline was 224 vs 187. Of the 30 component index stocks, 14 closed positive, 3 unchanged and 13 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. Capitaland +0.050
2. JSH 500USD +0.050
3. ST Engg +0.050
4. Sembcorp +0.030
5. Noble +0.025
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C -0.390
2. JMH 400USD -0.380
3. DBS -0.090
4. CityDev -0.090
5. OCBC -0.080
US markets closed with another up day last Friday. Asian bourses were mostly positive for the day. Nikkei was closed for holiday, SSE +1.89% and HSI +1.95%. STI started the day with a gain but failed to hold on to it closing -0.14% with typical daily volume and value. 14 of the 30 index stocks registered positive closing.
China surprised everyone last Friday by doing an interest rate cut, the first since 2012 and ECB also sounded they will be going to do more on monetary stimulus. Those news lifted US and Europe markets positive last Friday and the effect spreading to Asian markets today. Apart from some important economic data like US GDP, investors will be looking at the OPEC meeting at the middle of the week to see whether there will be a cut in production to support the failing crude oil price.
STI failed to grab on the positive sentiment on China surprise interest rate cut as profit taking kicked up and perhaps also certain funds rotating out to the SSE-HKEx connect to increase exposure to China stocks. Nevertheless, STI still in consolidation phase with long-term biased towards the upside.
