FTSE STI closed 3,434.24, up 16.22 points or +0.47% with a total volume of 974M and a total value of S$1.12b. Total number of advance vs decline was 207 vs 204. Of the 30 component index stocks, 18 closed positive, 3 unchanged and 9 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JMH USD +1.330
2. SIA +0.340
3. JSH USD +0.330
4. ComfortDelGro +0.150
5. Capitaland +0.070
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C -0.090
2. Kepcorp -0.080
3. UOB -0.170
4. SembMar -0.020
5. Noble -0.015
US markets posted a drop of about 0.4% yesterday and Asian bourses were mixed for the day with Nikkei -0.33%, SSE +1.49% and HSI +0.03%. STI rebounded from yesterday drop with a +0.47% closing in very thin daily volume but typical value with 18 of the 30 index stocks registered gain.
Concerns on Greece bailout issue and fear of China growth after its reported a set of negative trade data weighed on US markets despite oil price rebounded. China released its January inflation data coming in at a 5-year low of 0.8% below expectation of 1%. This should further pressurize Chinese Government for more monetary easing. Oil price continued the rebound after OPEC cuts its supply forecast for non-OPEC producers but that failed to lift global markets. Investors are monitoring the situation on Greece in which EU Finance Ministers will be holding an emergency meeting tomorrow to discuss about the issue. Should the extension of Greece bailout fail, Greece could be running out of money to repay bond holders resulting in default. The very worst case will be Greece exit the Euro.
STI managed to stay positive for most part of the day despite DBS announcing a below expectation set of earning this morning. O&G stocks failed to see the rebound as oil price continued to move higher probably factoring in there could be fewer contracts to be won as oil explorers cutting down on activities. Apart from those, majority of the stocks were in range bound mode as lack of firm positive catalyst to move higher and so far the negative news that trigger the selling were not something new either.
