FTSE STI closed 3,350.50, up 9.54 points or +0.29% with a total volume of 1.20b and a total value of S$1.20b. Total number of advance vs decline was 183 vs 220. Of the 30 component index stocks, 15 closed positive, 7 unchanged and 8 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JSH 500USD +0.810
2. Jardine C&C +0.550
3. SIA +0.270
4. JMH 400USD +0.230
5. UOB +0.170
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. Kep Corp -0.200
2. SembMar -0.180
3. SIA Engg -0.080
4. Sembcorp -0.050
5. Wilmar -0.030
US markets were closed for Thanksgiving holiday yesterday and Asian bourses were mostly positive for the day with Nikkei +1.23%, SSE +1.99% and HSI -0.07%. STI advanced 0.29% in typical volume and value with 15 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
As most expected OPEC maintain status quo and not cutting supply to oil production, that resulted crude oil price slipped further down. While energy related stocks were being sold down in reaction to that, the buying of non-energy related stocks managed to keep most Asian markets stayed positive for the day. Japan released its October CPI data coming in +2.9% the lowest so far this year while its Industrial Production rose 0.2% vs expectation of -0.6%. The drop in oil price in theory is good for global economy in exception for oil related companies in which they will be facing revenue drop. What investors need to do now is wait for oil price to stabilize. That could be done once the excess shale gas production in US has been killed off.
STI despite the drop in oil-related blue chips (KepCorp -2.2% and SembMar -5.4%) still managed to close positive with the Jardine group of stocks, banks and SIA being popped up for probably end of the month window dressing. For broader market, those oil-related mid and small cap stocks were faced with selling pressure while others were able to show some resilience. End of the year window dressing by fund managers should have started some 2 weeks ago and will spread into December. Stocks with good fundamental should be seeing some positive biased as fund managers adjusting their portfolio.
