FTSE STI closed 3,406.58, down 10.99 points or -0.32% with a total volume of 1.01b and a total value of S$1.11b. Total number of advance vs decline was 157 vs 243. Of the 30 component index stocks, 7 closed positive, 5 unchanged and 18 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JMH USD +0.360
2. JSH USD +0.280
3. ComfortDelGro +0.050
4. SIA +0.050
5. Capitaland +0.030
5. CapitaMall +0.030
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C -0.260
2. DBS -0.180
3. CityDev -0.120
4. SembCorp -0.110
5. OCBC -0.090
US markets closed mostly down yesterday and Asian bourses were also mostly in the red with Nikkei -0.98%, SSE -1.17% and HSI +0.35%. STI traded in negative region throughout the day closing -0.32% in thinner volume and value than past days with only 7 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
US ADP job data came in weaker than expectation, oil price pulled back and concern of Greek's debt rose when ECB commented that banks could not use Greek debt as collateral. All these weighed down news that PBOC cut RRR by 25-basis points to 19.50% yesterday evening. For the day, news of PBOC latest monetary easing failed to excite regional markets, SSE rose to the news but fell into the red in the last 30 minutes of trading. So far this year, SNB, ECB, RBA, MAS and now PBOC have announced easing of monetary policy and could be more from Korea, Japan, India or even Indonesia later on. While US Fed has ended QE and looking to tighten monetary policy by rate hike, rest of the world on the other hand are easing on monetary policy to combat threat of deflation and economic growth. Obviously, the whole world is not in sync and something wrong with all the monetary policies so far. Remember the "The Lost Decade" scenario !
STI in line with regional markets fell into the red as selling on blue chips weighed on. Meanwhile, STI is trying to find a support around the 3,400 level. The lack of positive catalyst has put a resistance on the market and any negative events or economic news attract selling for the time being.
