FTSE STI closed 3,450.10, up 18.51 points or +0.54% with a total volume of 1.60b and a total value of S$1.12b. Total number of advance vs decline was 257 vs 146. Of the 30 component index stocks, 19 closed positive, 2 unchanged and 9 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C +0.560
2. UOB +0.260
3. SIA +0.170
4. JMH USD +0.150
5. CityDev +0.140
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. Kep Corp -0.100
2. Semb Corp -0.050
3. DBS -0.030
4. SembMar -0.020
5. Olam -0.020
5. GLP -0.020
5. CapitaMall -0.020
5. Capitaland -0.020
US markets continued their 4th day of loss with a drop of at least 0.2%. Asian bourses were mixed with Nikkei -0.95%, SSE +0.27% and HSI -0.04%. STI continued the advance with a gain of 0.54% in typical daily volume and value with 19 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
The air strike on Yemen in the latest middle east geopolitical risk caused crude oil price to spike at least 4% overnight and caused US markets to trade in the red for the 4th day failing to rebound. Asian markets showed the weakness in reaction to that. On top of that Japan released its February CPI data this morning coming in at +2%, below expectation of +2.1% putting pressure on BOJ in its fight for deflation. Show the data continue to weaken, BOJ would probably have to further ease monetary policy. US 1Q final GDP figure will be one that investors going to focus on today.
STI continued the strength to move higher challenging the 52-week high as fund managers continue to window dressing on blue chips (in particular banking stocks which driving the index up), large-cap and fundamental strong mid-cap stocks. On the other hand, punters were focusing on the penny to punt for quick profit. For those to late to catch the window dressing play should turn the focus to corporate earning starting on the 2nd week of April.
