FTSE STI closed 3,347.67, up 21.90 points or +0.66% with a total volume of 1.51b and a total value of S$1.31b. Total number of advance vs decline was 254 vs 182. Of the 30 component index stocks, 19 closed positive, 5 unchanged and 6 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JSH USD +0.380
2. DBS +0.270
3. SGX +0.120
4. Kep Corp +0.110
5. HongkongLand USD +0.100
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. SIA -0.090
2. GLP -0.040
3. Capitaland -0.030
4. ST Engg -0.020
5. StarHub -0.020
US markets rose at least 1% yesterday and Asian bourses taking the cue also traded positive for the day with Nikkei +1.68%, SSE +0.32% and HSI +0.83%. STI continued the rebound with a closing of +0.66% with a slightly higher daily volume and value and 19 of the 30 index stocks posted gain.
With news that there was encouraging developments in the Greece debt talks attracted bargain hunting to allow US markets to rally at least 1%. Asian markets taking the cue were on the positive side too despite some choppy trading in SSE. China released its Retail Sales and Industrial Production data today coming in within expectation and that eased fear that worst of China slowdown may be over. That helped SSE to stayed positive after yesterday selling down due to MSCI delayed decision to include China A-Share in its EM index. Though the rebound eased some fears, the same issue still remain, when US Fed will rate hike and the forever Greece debt issue.
STI continued the rebound with the help of bargain hunting from the blue chips. The next question will be how long will the rebound last ? Next week US Fed FOMC meeting will be used by investors to gauge when rate hike will be and any negative news will see market pull back again. Remember what's needed is market consolidation and not sharp movement in either direction.
