FTSE STI closed 3,338.86, up 22.36 points or +0.67% with a total volume of 1.24b and a total value of S$860M. Total number of advance vs decline was 231 vs 209. Of the 30 component index stocks, 18 closed positive, 1 unchanged and 11 in the red. The top 5 gainer component index stocks were :-
1. JMH USD +2.380
2. JSH USD +1.610
3. Jardine C&C +0.380
4. UOB +0.260
5. DBS +0.150
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. HongkongLand USD -0.070
2. SGX -0.040
3. Kep Corp -0.040
4. SingTel -0.030
5. StarHub -0.020
5. CityDev -0.020
5. Ascendas Reit -0.020
US markets rose at least 0.4% yesterday and Asian bourses were mixed for the day with Nikkei +0.38%, SSE -3.02% and HSI -0.26%. STI rose another 0.67% in thin volume and value with 18 of the 30 index stocks registered gain.
US Retail Sales surprisingly fell last month but corporate earning result managed to keep US markets posted 4 straight day of gain. For Asian markets it was a different picture with mixed performance. It was a heavy economic data day with BOJ after 2 days of meeting kept policy unchanged but trimmed GDP forecast. China released series of economic data with 2Q GDP came in at 7% slight above expectation of 6.9%, Industrial output rose 6.8% above expectation of 6% and Retail Sales climbed 10.6% also beating expectation of 10.2%. Those data suggested China recent monetary policy is working and steady the slowdown. However, China markets were on the fall despite those better than expectation data. One concern is with that Chinese Government will be not in a hurry to further easing of monetary policy. In addition, China market is still trying to digest the past weeks sharp drop as slowly those listed company resume trading from halt. Today will be D-day for Greek Government to try to pass those austerity measures as law so as to get on with the bailout negotiation talk. Possibility of that failing to pass as bill is low but somehow the Greek people feel like betrayal as only just last week they voted against austerity in the referendum and now the austerity is back and with even more. Another event is US Fed Chairman testimony to the Congress tonight. Again, investors will be looking at cue for when will be the first rate hike.
STI managed to register another day of gain moving the index towards the 3,360 resistance level. Bargain hunting on blue chips in particular banking and Jardine group of stocks and positioning ahead of corporate earning plus punters punting on penny stocks helped the broad market enjoyed another day of gain. While the news of possible GE this year also helped to support the market to a limited downside for the time being. Tomorrow could be the last chance to bargain hunt before the market starting to take off !
