Accelerated vaccinations to combat delta variant

The Singapore government has managed to increase daily vaccination capacities to 80k from 47k per day starting today. That means that we can technically reduce the number of days to vaccinate all residents in Singapore by around 70% (if my math is right). Such a change in schedule will also help bring forward the resumption of overseas travel without quarantine for Singaporean residents. Hopefully, this will increase the confidence of investors, especially for the affected sectors. As we know, the measures to support affected businesses have already tapered to a minimum. Even though the job support scheme has been extended due to the recent heightened alert, however, it will not be sustainable for businesses with significant overhead. Therefore, I do feel that the recent announcements by the government are the much-needed remedy for both the economy and market sentiments.

STI – Updated Daily Chart

On the daily chart, we can see that STI closed just above 3130, which is not a major support line. Personally, I will not be too concerned about last week’s performance because the market might just be wary of sudden changes in the tone of the government due to the daily reporting about single-digit unlinked cases. Though worrying, I believe that this pandemic has already become an unofficial endemic because its transmission rate has been rather constant. Our only option to keep ourselves safe is to get vaccinated so that we can lessen the impacts if we get infected.

STI – Updated Weekly Chart

I changed the focus to a weekly chart instead for this week because I want to show how the market has actually returned to a state of consolidation similar to our pre-pandemic state. My recommendation is to execute range trading for a portion of our portfolios if possible unless there is a significant breakout.

Author’s Call as of 26th June 2021

• Vaccinations capacities are increase to 80k per day to reach a higher percentage of vaccinated residents in Singapore
• New incentives will be announced after getting vaccinated
• STI was cautious in the last week as there are consistent unlinked cases on a daily basis
• The government’s reassurance will help investors gain more confidence in the market

Author’s Call as of 19th June 2021

• A circuit breaker is no longer an option for Singapore as we embrace a post-pandemic situation for COVID 19
• Businesses and investor sentiments should be improving since there is some level of certainty that we are reopening the nation
• The daily chart shows that the index is still supported by the parallel channel after last week’s news shock due to the new outbreak
• On the monthly chart, it still shows much potential in terms of room for our economy to climb in the coming months