FTSE STI closed 3,452.91, down 0.84 points or -0.02% with a total volume of 1.95b and a total value of S$704M. Total number of advance vs decline was 284 vs 161. Of the 30 component index stocks, 12 closed positive, 5 unchanged and 13 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JSH USD +0.560
2. Jardine C&C +0.230
3. UOB +0.140
4. CityDev +0.050
5. SingTel +0.030
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JMH USD -0.200
2. HongkongLand USD -0.090
3. SIA -0.040
4. Ascendas Reit -0.040
5. Wilmar -0.020
5. SIA Engg -0.020
5. SGX -0.020
5. OCBC -0.020
5. DBS -0.020
US markets were closed last Friday and Asian bourses were mostly positive for the day. Nikkei -0.19% and both SSE and HSI were closed for holiday. STI was flat throughout in higher daily volume but thin value with 12 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
US non-farm payroll data for March came in worse than expected but unemployment rate remained at 5.5%. That set of weak data has prompted investors that US Fed should have little reason to raise interest rate in June unless the next 2 months job data suddenly spike up. The consensus now is September. Most Asian markets reacted positively to the weak set of US job data as rate hike will not be that soon. Now investors will shift their focus to earning which will start this week for US.
STI was another lacklustre and closed flat in thin value as traders turned attention to punt in penny stocks while awaiting for the earning season to start this week. With the believe that US Fed should not be hiking interest rate soon, property stocks were having a day while most of the blue chips, large-cap were muted. While punting might give the instant profit but can get caught easily too, trading might have higher risk but that can be minimized with fundamental stocks.
