FTSE STI closed 3,403.89, up 1.03 points or +0.03% with a total volume of 1.36b and a total value of S$1.29b. Total number of advance vs decline was 169 vs 289. Of the 30 component index stocks, 14 closed positive, 3 unchanged and 13 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C +0.720
2. JSH USD +0.200
3. HongkongLand USD +0.130
4. SIA +0.060
5. Ascendas Reit +0.040
5. ComfortDelGro +0.040
5. JMH USD +0.040
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. DBS -0.290
2. OCBC -0.090
3. CityDev -0.060
4. ST Engg -0.040
5. SGX -0.030
5. Sembcorp -0.030
5. Noble -0.030
US markets dipped into the red with a drop of at least 0.3% last Friday. Asian bourses were mostly positive for the day with Nikkei +0.15%, SSE +0.78% and HSI +0.26%. STI swinging between gain and loss and eventually closed flat in typical daily volume and value with 14 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
US 4Q GDP figure came out weaker than expected at +2.2% after a +5.0% in 3Q. The slightly weak figure gave investors the excuse of taking profit after DJ and S&P500 hitting record high for the past days. Over the weekend it was data and event from China that set the pace of today trading. China official PMI for February came in at 49.9, slightly better than previous month of 49.8 but in contraction mode. However, the day before the announcement of the official data, PBOC did a 2nd interest rate cut by 25-basis point within 3 months. That news was of no surprise to investors as most anticipating more action from PBOC and it will also not the last from them either. As such, most of Asian markets were positive due to that piece of news.
STI unfortunately unable to track regional markets putting in another flat performance. This could be due to funds switching out and injecting into China and Hong Kong given the latest PBOC action. Funds could be switching out from STI but that should not be due to fundamental reason. With the weakness in sentiment in STI, that could present opportunity.
