FTSE STI closed 3,419.17, down 25.40 points or -0.74% with a total volume of 1.03b and a total value of S$1.27b. Total number of advance vs decline was 152 vs 301. Of the 30 component index stocks, 4 closed positive, 2 unchanged and 24 in the red. The 4 gainer component stocks were :-
1. SingTel +0.040
2. CityDev +0.030
3. ST Engg +0.010
4. ThaiBev +0.005
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JSH USD -0.760
2. Jardine C&C -0.450
3. HongkongLand USD -0.180
4. SIA -0.170
5. JMH USD -0.160
5. DBS -0.160
5. ComfortDelGro -0.160
US markets closed flat yesterday and Asian bourses were mixed for the day with Nikkei +1.85%, SSE +0.50% and HSI +0.44%. STI unable to close positive for the 3rd day fell 0.74% in thinner daily volume and value with only 4 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
It was a volatile session for Wall Streets as markets recovered from earlier loss to close flat as the Greece's issue weighed. Asian markets were mixed for the day after EU Finance Ministers concluded that there was no agreement on the Greece's bailout after yesterday meeting. Though there wasn't any deal yesterday but the possibility of not reaching any deal by end of this month before Greece runs out of cash should be pretty low as neither EU nor Greece would want such a situation to happen. More negotiation works should be going on next week to strike a deal before the deadline.
STI gave back almost all the gain from past 2 days as profit taking kicked in to take cautious of the Greece issue. As usual the index was weighed down by the Jardine group of stocks. The possibility of over-reacting to the Greece issue is high and with most of the companies already reported their earnings, fundamental wise it justifies for bargain hunting whenever there is over-reaction panic selling.
