FTSE STI closed 3,484.39, up 12.01 points or +0.35% with a total volume of 3.38b and a total value of S$1.30b. Total number of advance vs decline was 307 vs 187. Of the 30 component index stocks, 16 closed positive, 4 unchanged and 10 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. Kep Corp +0.210
2. SGX +0.190
3. SIA +0.180
4. Jardine C&C +0.170
5. UOB +0.160
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JSH USD -0.450
2. CityDev -0.220
3. DBS -0.100
4. HongkongLand USD -0.080
5. Ascendas Reit -0.030
US markets advanced at least 0.50% last Friday and Asian bourses were mostly positive for the day with Nikkei -0.01%, SSE +2.16% and HSI +2.73%. STI in line with regional bourses rose 0.35% closing at new 7-year high in higher daily volume but typical value with 16 of the 30 index stocks registered gain.
Positive global sentiment coupled with M&A news drove US markets up last Friday. Asian markets taking the cue were mostly positive with most of them hitting new multi-year high despite some weak China trade data. China export for March fell more than expected down 14.6% and import slid 12.3% also worse than expected. The weak data only led to investors believing that Chinese Government will further ease monetary policy. US investors should be focusing on corporate earning this week with the big tech companies and banks schedule to release their quarterly earning.
STI after hitting new 7-year high last Friday continued the trend closing at another new 7-year high with a broad base gain from the market. While the blue chips might be staying resilient ahead of their earning, short-term investors and punters turned their attention to those laggard stocks resulting in higher daily volume. Singapore corporate earning also starting into full swing this week and investors also awaiting for tomorrow Singapore 1Q GDP data which expected to be weak and MAS decision on its monetary policy, which most expected further weakening of SGD.
