FTSE STI closed 3,459.57, down 3.53 points or -0.10% with a total volume of 1.74b and a total value of S$961M. Total number of advance vs decline was 244 vs 207. Of the 30 component index stocks, 13 closed positive, 4 unchanged and 13 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. DBS +0.060
2. Wilmar +0.050
3. SGX +0.040
4. Capitaland +0.030
5. Kep Corp +0.030
5. OCBC +0.030
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JMH USD -0.970
2. Jardine C&C -0.470
3. JSH USD -0.260
4. SIA Engg -0.040
5. SembMar -0.040
5. ComfortDelGro -0.040
US markets closed flat and mixed last Friday and Asian bourses were also mixed for the day with Nikkei +0.80%, SSE -0.59% and HSI -0.83%. STI fell 0.10% in those typical thin daily volume and value day with 13 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
With lack of events last Friday, US investors digesting the recent rebound resulting in a mixed and flat closing for US markets despite S&P500 closed at new record high. For Asia, Japan released data indicating its machinery order for March recovered helping Nikkei to close positive for the day. However, for most of the regional markets, profit taking and cautiousness kicked in awaiting for China HSBC flash PMI data for this month to be released on Thursday and also the ongoing Greece's issue.
STI spent most of the time in the red closing slight down after this morning data of NODEX for April. It rose 2.2% compared with a prediction of -4.2% and a +18.5% in March. The volatile data again weighed on the strength of Singapore economy with no strong suggestion that it is going anywhere. Data might be positive but that non-positive sentiment and uncertainty weighed in on STI. In the absence of any unexpected events, STI should be trading in consolidation mode with so far the support around 3,415 region to be supporting the downside while the upside is capped at 3,500.
