STI flat midday at 3129.59 midday, though broader market negative with about 2 decliners for every gainer vs evenly matched in early trade. 967 million shares traded worth $1.10 billion; cautious, sideways trade unsurprising with many investors sidelined before next week’s FOMC meeting; CLSA’s Christopher Wood says “the near-term prospect for stocks clearly hinges on whether the Federal Reserve positively surprises risk seekers at its next FOMC meeting” Nov 2-3. 

Echoes many analysts’ view that market building in expectations for large QE2 program, Wednesday’s 1.2% fall for STI—partly on reports QE2 likely smaller, more incremental than first thought--may portend bigger drop if Fed doesn’t deliver.

 

XinRen (MN5.SG) top traded today, down 9.4% at $0.48, well below $0.55 IPO price; CapitaMalls (JS8.SG) flat at $2.18, GLP (MC0.SG) +1.8% at $2.26. Index seems unlikely to fall below 3119 intraday low, also bottom of Wednesday’s long dark candle.