FTSE STI closed 3,192.79, down 9.71 points or -0.30% with a total volume of 1.48b and a total value of S$1.14b. Total number of advance vs decline was 138 vs 350. Of the 30 component index stocks, 9 closed positive, 5 unchanged and 16 in the red. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C +0.470
2. JSH USD +0.220
3. CityDev +0.100
4. HongkongLand USD +0.100
5. CapitaMall +0.060
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. SIA -0.290
2. UOB -0.240
3. Sembcorp -0.210
4. SIA Engg -0.150
5. GLP -0.100
US markets fell at least 0.2% last Friday and Asian bourses were in a sea of red with Nikkei -0.18%, SSE -1.11% and HSI -0.91%. STI in line with regional bourses fell 0.30% in thinner volume and value than past days with only 9 of the 30 index stocks registered gain.
The worries on China slow down, fall in commodity price and not much impressive corporate earning led US markets to close lower last Friday. China released its official PMI data for July over the weekend coming in at 50.0 and this morning the final flash PMI surprisingly dropped to 2-years low at 47.8 even below the preliminary reading of 48.2. Those bearish data and sentiment caused further selling down in Asian markets. With the probability of US Fed hiking interest rate next month, there was a sense of funds withdrawing across Asian markets. More economic data like US non-farm payroll for July which will be releasing end of this week will again in spotlight as this could be the last deciding data for US Fed to hike rate next month.
STI continued the drop closing below 3,200 level, going to retest the 3,150 support level. The drop should not be surprising given that foreign funds outflow while retail investors staying sideline or waiting at lower price level for bargain hunting. With Singapore going for a long holiday period starting this Friday till next Monday and corporate earning mostly coming to an end in the next 1 to 2 weeks, the pressure will be mostly on the sell side with the buying very happily to wait for lower price level. Technically speaking Singapore market as compared to regional markets is not expensive and overvalued, the selling only providing bargain hunting opportunity. There is no rush to immediately go in to snap up all those beaten stocks, time will be on buyers side to slowly accumulate on weakness.
