No positive news expected for Pandemic or review of restrictions

As Singapore continues to see a triple-digit spread of the virus, we will unlikely see any good news reported by the MTF in the coming week and should be aiming for another review by 18 August. At the moment, the spread of the virus does not seem to be slowing and the number of cases that require medical support is increasing as well. As the market continues to stay cautious, I believe investors should brace for some unexpected measures that can potentially send a shock to the market and send it back to support level. Otherwise, we should still be looking forward to our postponed national day as we celebrate both our nation’s birthday as well as at least 75% of our population vaccinated with 2 doses.

A word of advice is to start looking at valuations of the stocks we own and how they fare compared to pre-COVID levels, if there have already recovered, do also consider the difference in absolute performance before the pandemic hit and its most recent performance. That would provide a more objective comparison to see if the valuation is indeed attractive for us to hold for a longer time period.

STI – Updated Daily Chart

On the daily chart, we can see that STI is either consolidating sideways or on a slight uptrend. Looking at the second chart, all moving averages on the chart are converging signaling no change in trend for the time being as well.

STI – Updated Monthly Chart

The monthly chart continues to stay supported by the minor support line but historically, there will still be volatility expected even when in hindsight the candlesticks look short and uninteresting.

Author’s Call as of 31tst July 2021

• Not expecting good news from the MTF in the coming week due to higher number of cases and increased need for medical support
• Daily chart shows sideway consolidation or a slight uptrend but nothing conclusive
• Monthly chart seems uninteresting but expect volatility in the weeks to come as usual
• Best advice is for investors to take action when it make sense for your stock counters either to take back capital or deploy some for weakened counters.

Author’s Call as of 24th July 2021

• The STI demonstrated resilience in the face of sudden reverting to Phase 2 Heightened Alert
• Markets continue to consolidate sideways but daily chart shows that the market is well supported and trying to break out of a short term downtrend
• Insignificant changes to monthly chart
• Withdrawing capital from stocks and waiting for a lower reentry price is encouraged if you are low on free capital