FTSE STI closed 3,362.77, down 10.83 points or -0.32% with a total volume of 1.11b and a total value of S$910M. Total number of advance vs decline was 215 vs 192. Of the 30 component index stocks, 9 closed positive, 4 unchanged and 17 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. CapitaMall +0.050
2. CityDev +0.040
3. DBS +0.040
4. Sembcorp +0.040
5. SingTel +0.030
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JMH USD -1.230
2. Jardine C&C -0.400
3. SIA -0.280
4. JSH USD -0.260
5. SGX -0.090
5. HongkongLand USD -0.090
US markets rebounded with average at least 1% gain. Asian bourses were mostly positive for the day with Nikkei +1.39%, breaking the 19,000 level at another new 15-year high, SSE +0.73% and HSI +0.11%. STI unfortunately unable to track regional markets closing -0.32% in slightly thinner daily volume and value with only 9 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
USD weaken and fear of US Fed sooner than expected rate hike eased after some weaker than expected Retail Sales data allowed US markets to rebound from past days of selling off. Most Asian markets were able to take the cue from positive US markets performance and closed positive. The spotlight at the moment will be next week US Fed FOMC meeting in which investors will be trying to catch signal from US Fed as to when interest rate hike.
STI was unable to match regional markets performance mainly due to the strong USD against the weak SGD as funds selling off to switch to other Asian bourses in which their respective Central Bank did monetary easing. Again, the index was weighed down by the Jardine group of share and this has given an incorrect reflection of Singapore market. The outflow of funds from Singapore should be able to stabilize next week after US Fed FOMC meeting.
