STI - support broken

Above is a daily chart of the STI. The market was holding quite well until the last hour when sellers came in at full force to drive the STI below the 200d moving average. It looks like it will be a blood bath in the European and US trading sessions tonight. My downside target for the STI will be 2800.

A short note on the STI

Just a short update on the market. Above is a daily chart of the STI. The market opened up, closed lower, but no panic selling today. I have the feeling that the market will go higher, but now it has to break through overhead resistance of the 50d MA, which is around 2970. Support for now is 2917.

STI at support. What next?

Oh dear, oh dear. STI today dropped 65 points to end up just above key support of 2912 on the slew of bad news from US and EUROPE. If the STI fails to hold above this support, then we could be looking at the STI to drop another 100 points to about 2800.

NOL encountered stiff resistance at the 50day moving average and fell, together with the broad market, to 1.21. i had thought that the trend had reversed after it broke through key resistance of 1.25, but it fell victim to the broad selling across the market. It too has come to rest above its recent pivot low. If this level fails to hold, we are looking at a drop to 1.12.

The picture of NOBLE GROUP is similar to NOL. It also dropped to its recent pivot low and a break below this price level means that the downside price target is 1.11.

STI, NOBLE GROUP, NOL

Here is a look at the STI. So where are we now? We have been going sideways since mid February, but the trend is getting clearer and clearer. There is heavy resistance at 3032; the STI hit and failed to break through three times. However, the pivot lows during each retracement has been getting higher and higher, with the 50day exponential moving average giving a pretty good support. I thought we were headed towards 2900 when the STI closed below the 50day MA in early April, but the STI bounced very strongly back up the next day. MACD also looks to have bottomed out and is starting to turn up, both the 50day and 200day moving averages are still up, so it looks to me that it is only a matter of time before the STI breaks to the upside. I think slowly, the EU is coming to the realisation that austerity alone is not going to save their stalling economies. Let us see if the ECB will provide some sort of monetary stimulus to boost growth. I would like to talk about two counters that show signs of turn-around.

NOL's share price was pretty beaten down from 1.515 to 1.195 from mid Feb 2012 to late April 2012. It's share price has since rebounded very quickly within the next three days and with a steady rise in volume. Short term indicators show that there is a high chance that a bottom has been formed and that the upward momentum is steadily building up. Initial resistance is at 1.32, support is at 1.195.

Above is a daily chart of NOBLE GROUP. I had expected it to head towards 1.11 after it closed below 1.20, but it staged a strong rally yesterday on high volume and closed higher today as well. The MACD is also starting to turn up and I also suspect that a bottom has been formed. Initial resistance is about 1.30, support is at 1.18.

End of day look at STI and some stocks

General market direction? Above is a daily chart of the STI. We are still going sideways, with heavy resistance at 3032, initial support at the 50day moving average line at about 2960 and a much stronger pivot support at about 2910. Momentum has dropped again.




Let us have a look at a relatively strong stock in the STI. Above is a chart of Genting. It hit a high of 1.77 in late March before retracing to a low 1.65 in early Apr 2012. So support and resistance for Genting would be 1.65 and 1.77 respectively. Prices look like they will stay above both the 50 and 200 day moving averages. The trend is sideways and is slowly trending up.




Here is a counter which looked rather promising in late February and early March 2012 after it broke its previous high. But after reaching it's all time high of 2.25, it went sideways and eventually broke support of about 2.09 to head lower. It looks headed towards the 200day moving average of about 1.96.



Once a darling of the stock market, NOBLE GROUP, after hitting a high of $2.40 in late December 2010, has been on a downward trend. Things looked a bit promising in Oct 2011 when it managed to break the 200day moving average, but it fell to a low of $1.05 after it announced losses and the resignation of its CEO. The stock made a sharp recovery in early 2012 to reach about $1.54 and has been slowly drifting lower. Today's close looks like a candle stick hammer, and looks to signify that a bottom has been formed and a reversal looks possible. $1.23 is also a key level when price reversals have taken place. Let us see if indeed a bottom has been reached for NOBLE GROUP.

sti, genting sp

Above is a daily chart of the STI. The STI is still range bound between 3032 and about 2910. But it does look like the momentum is strengthening (look at the MACD histogram). The longer term outlook (based on the 200day moving average) is slowly moving up. So on the longer term, the STI looks poised to go higher. Support looks to be at the 50day moving average, which would be about 2960. Heavy resistance is at 3032.




Genting SP has been slowly tracing higher lows and now both the longer term outlook (looking at the 200day moving average) and medium term outlook (based on the 50day moving average) are on an uptrend. Support is at 1.68 and resistance is at 1.77.

STI, Noble group and ezion holdings

Above is a daily chart of the STI. The STI tested support of the 50-day moving average but managed to recover to close above yesterday close. So far 3032 has proven to be a very stubborn resistance level. However, the 50-day moving average has also proven to be a rather strong support. From the look of things, i believe the STI will break 3032 on the upside. I just do not know what will be the stimulus that will do the trick.




Above is a daily chart of Noble Group. The price action for Noble Group is not looking good. The price has been going sideways, but the bias is to the downside as it is making lower highs. Support of the 50-day moving average was also broken yesterday, and today, it closed lower again but ominously, on high volume. It recently announced that the company is issuing Islamic bonds, but looking at the market reaction, this is not viewed positively.




Above is a daily chart of Ezion Holdings, a company that is into chartering and offshore support business. The price action is on a steady uptrend, with a bit of a correction at $0.97, where quite a bit of shares changed hands. The 50-day moving average appeared to serve as a good support level during that correction. It has now broken its previous high of $0.97 and closed strongly at $1.025. I think this counter is worth looking at.