More than ever, market in trading mode now
Published February 18, 2006
BT
By R SIVANITHY
SENIOR CORRESPONDENT
IT would be difficult to avoid cliches when describing the week just past. 'The market ran out of steam', 'traders withdrew to the sidelines', 'stocks alternated between bargain-hunting and profit-taking' and 'investors took their cues from overseas markets' are just some of the awful phrases that could quite easily be trotted out in a weekly summary such as this.
However, we'll avoid venturing into cliched territory and simply say that it was a disappointingly weak five days for the local market, during which the volatility seen strongly suggests that the market has entered trading mode.
As a result, sentiment was easily swayed by sharp movements in other markets, mainly Japan and Hong Kong and, to a lesser extent, Wall Street. Trading was also driven by broking house recommendations and earnings announcements - both positive and negative.
Overall, it was a nervy sort of week that started off soft, turned promising in the middle but relapsed yesterday, probably because late forced selling wrong-footed the hordes of contra players who jumped into the market a week ago. This was confirmed by anecdotal testimony from brokers who admitted that by now, most clients were sitting on net losses for the week.
Still, despite the late pressure that saw the Straits Times Index lose 3.32 points yesterday at 2,431.34 - it had earlier risen as much as 17 points to 2,451 - the gains enjoyed on Tuesday and Thursday were enough to ensure a net rise of 8 points for the week. This performance, however, masks the widespread pain being felt in many areas. Among the stocks worst hit by the sell-off were Hyflux Ltd and the Singapore Exchange (SGX), the former plunging 14 cents to $2.83 and the latter 10 cents to $3.68. Hyflux has now lost 27 cents or 9 per cent in two days. SGX touched $3.92 earlier in the week but has since dropped 6 per cent.
Other favourites to suffer corrections were oil-and-gas play Federal International and commodities firm Olam International. Among the stocks in play were China-based pharmaceuticals while KS Energy's results announcement followed by a proposed bonus issue saw it hold firm yesterday, thus ensuring the oil-and-gas sector had at least one decent performer, the rest having quietly faded from the scene.
Among blue chips, StarHub collapsed 9 cents to $2.04 yesterday - apparently over earnings concerns - while DBS's disappointing results saw it first drop 30 cents to $16.10 before closing at $16.30 for a net loss of 10 cents.
Brokers reported growing unease among clients at the market's inability to respond positively to rises on Wall Street or to extend its Chinese New Year rally. However, because of ample liquidity, downside should be limited.
BT
By R SIVANITHY
SENIOR CORRESPONDENT
IT would be difficult to avoid cliches when describing the week just past. 'The market ran out of steam', 'traders withdrew to the sidelines', 'stocks alternated between bargain-hunting and profit-taking' and 'investors took their cues from overseas markets' are just some of the awful phrases that could quite easily be trotted out in a weekly summary such as this.
However, we'll avoid venturing into cliched territory and simply say that it was a disappointingly weak five days for the local market, during which the volatility seen strongly suggests that the market has entered trading mode.
As a result, sentiment was easily swayed by sharp movements in other markets, mainly Japan and Hong Kong and, to a lesser extent, Wall Street. Trading was also driven by broking house recommendations and earnings announcements - both positive and negative.
Overall, it was a nervy sort of week that started off soft, turned promising in the middle but relapsed yesterday, probably because late forced selling wrong-footed the hordes of contra players who jumped into the market a week ago. This was confirmed by anecdotal testimony from brokers who admitted that by now, most clients were sitting on net losses for the week.
Still, despite the late pressure that saw the Straits Times Index lose 3.32 points yesterday at 2,431.34 - it had earlier risen as much as 17 points to 2,451 - the gains enjoyed on Tuesday and Thursday were enough to ensure a net rise of 8 points for the week. This performance, however, masks the widespread pain being felt in many areas. Among the stocks worst hit by the sell-off were Hyflux Ltd and the Singapore Exchange (SGX), the former plunging 14 cents to $2.83 and the latter 10 cents to $3.68. Hyflux has now lost 27 cents or 9 per cent in two days. SGX touched $3.92 earlier in the week but has since dropped 6 per cent.
Other favourites to suffer corrections were oil-and-gas play Federal International and commodities firm Olam International. Among the stocks in play were China-based pharmaceuticals while KS Energy's results announcement followed by a proposed bonus issue saw it hold firm yesterday, thus ensuring the oil-and-gas sector had at least one decent performer, the rest having quietly faded from the scene.
Among blue chips, StarHub collapsed 9 cents to $2.04 yesterday - apparently over earnings concerns - while DBS's disappointing results saw it first drop 30 cents to $16.10 before closing at $16.30 for a net loss of 10 cents.
Brokers reported growing unease among clients at the market's inability to respond positively to rises on Wall Street or to extend its Chinese New Year rally. However, because of ample liquidity, downside should be limited.
posted by SmartYInvestor at 7:40 AM
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