STI - sideways

Good evening. We seem to have hit some form of impasse here. The STI is still trading sideways and to be honest, it is pretty frustrating. 3032 is still very heavy resistance, with strong support at the previous low pivot at about 2910. Intermediate support is at 2950 (the 50day moving average). Momentum has also drifted sideways, but the MACD lines are still above zero, so the bias is still towards the bullish side for now. With so much uncertainty, it is not surprising that most people are at the sidelines.

STI - consolidating

Sharp sell-off in the STI during the late afternoon as indications of a global slowdown are getting stronger. Initial support looks like the 50day moving average mark at about 2950. Resistance at 3036 looks firmly entrenched.

A look at STI and Ezion Holdings

Above is a weekly candlestick chart of the STI. The STI has spent almost 7 weeks between 2900 and 3030 points. We only managed to close above 3000 points last week and we closed just about 3000 points today. From what i can see on the weekly chart, we are in an uptrend; the STI is above both the 200 and 50 period moving averages, MACD is on an uptrend, but the momentum is falling. But we seem to be in a holding pattern. Volumes are down and there seems to be plenty of uncertainty moving forward. The best strategy now appears to be to buy on dips, but since there is so much uncertainty and scepticism around, i suspect most people are on sidelines.



i was scanning the top volume counters and noticed that companies involved in offshore and marine business are enjoying pretty good runs. One of them is Ezion Holdings. The weekly chart is above. It enjoyed a pretty powerful rally since its breakout from a descending trendline, which started first by breaking the 200, followed by the 50 period moving averages. It broke above its previous high of 0.890 in mid Feb 2012, peaked at 0.97 before being sold down upon news of a rights issue. It has since recovered and has managed to stay above 0.890 for the past 3 weeks. It looks like it is consolidating for another breakout.

A chart a day - NOL

I thought i'll introduce a chart of NOL to you today. Why do I like it? Because it has traced a nice round bottom around the $1.00 level and broken up from both the medium and longer term moving averages. The stock is now trending nicely upwards. Support looks strong between $1.35 and $1.40. Near term resistance is $1.50. Global economy looks to be recovering. Japan seems to have rebuilt its manufacturing facilities following the devastating tsunami, US job numbers and economic numbers look promising. Looking at the way the price of NOL is behaving, it looks like shipping volumes are picking up.

STI - support found?

Above is today's end-of-day chart of the STI. After a 2% drop of the STI yesterday, the STI was relatively flat today. I am not sure if it signalled the end of the down trend (as that would be a very short one), but the STI did close above the 50day moving average and above 2900 points. The next support would be the 200day moving average line at about 2880 and below that it would be the 2800 level. Momentum is strongly down, but longer term trends are still up. It does look like a good buying opportunity soon.

STI - heavy resistance at 3000

The STI is still facing heavy resistance at 3,000 points. It closed just below that level today. Momentum is down, but otherwise, both the medium and long term trends are still rising. Support is about 2,900, resistance is at 3,000.