FTSE STI closed 3,243.65, up 16.42 points or +0.51% with a total volume of 1.17b and a total value of S$1.23b. Total number of advance vs decline was 220 vs 169. Of the 30 component index stocks, 18 closed positive, 1 unchanged and 11 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JSH 500USD +0.940
2. JMH 400USD +0.790
3. DBS +0.450
4. KepCorp +0.220
5. Jardine C&C +0.210
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. GLP -0.080
2. HongkongLand USD -0.070
3. SingTel -0.040
4. SembMar -0.040
5. ComfortDelGro -0.040
US markets rallied at least 1.70% yesterday and Asian bourses were mostly positive for the day with Nikkei +2.32%, SSE -0.10% and HSI +1.09%. STI rose 0.51% in typical daily volume and value with 18 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
US markets cheered what US Fed's comment on interest rate hike with both S&P500 and Nasdaq rallied more than 2%. A change of usual tone of maintaining interest rate low for a "considerable time", US Fed changed the wording to having "patience" to raise interest rate and commented that interest rate will not raise before April 2015. That suited investors well and triggered markets rally with oil price also rebounding yesterday. Asian markets mostly tracking US markets traded positive except for SSE dipped slightly due to profit taking.
STI rebounded with the buying gathering momentum in the afternoon. However, blue chips were still mixed with oil-related stocks continued to show strength in rebounding and the Jardine group of stocks providing most of the gain for the index. A note was those stocks that have rallied for past days were on a weak note probably due to fund managers taking profit last week for their end of the year portfolio dressing and another possibility could be switching out of money into those badly beaten down oil-related stocks. Oil-related stocks should be closely monitored now and if the rebound continued oil price will be next on the way up despite still have some noises predicting oil could fall to as low as US$30/barrel.
