Daily Markets Briefing: STI down 1.36%

Next support pegged at the 3087 mark.

Singapore Exchange said:

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 43.18 points lower or -1.36% to 3131.47, taking the year-to-date performance to -1.06%. The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index declined -1.01% while the FTSE ST Small Cap Index declined -0.31%. The top active stocks were HanKore (+1.71%), SingTel (-1.64%), DBS (-0.70%), UOB (-1.51%) and Keppel Corporation (-1.52%).]

OCBC Investment Research said:

Renewed uncertainty in the US is likely to weigh on the local sentiment (note that Nikkei is also off to a weak start, now down 1.4%, albeit playing catch up).

But the STI also looks overbought following the strong run-up prior to the New Year; daily stochastics indicator has cut down in the last session inside the overbought region.

As such, we could continue to see a further pullback towards 3106 (50% retracement of the recent rebound from 3025-3187), also near the centre of the Bollinger Band.

A strong break could see the next support at 3087 (31.8% of same rebound) being called into play; but note that there is a parabolic sell signal trigger at 3099.

The downtrend line resistance (currently at 3186, -1 point/day) since 19 Sep 13 remains the initial cap.