Market Summary -- 25th Apr 11

FTSE STI closed 3,187.72, down 7.01 points or -0.22% with a total volume of 1.06b and a total value of S$1.22b.  Total number of advance vs decline was 167 vs 267.  Of the 30 component index stocks, 12 closed positive, 15 closed negative and 3 remained unchanged.  The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-

1. JSH 500US$  +0.160

2. JMH 400US$  +0.080

3. Jardine C&C  +0.060

4. SembMar  +0.050

5. SIA Engg  +0.040

The top 5 loser component stocks were :-

1. SIA  -0.240

2. ST Engg  -0.100

3. CityDev  -0.080

4. CapMallsAsia  -0.050

5. Olam  -0.040

5. NobleGrp  -0.040

5. Capitaland  -0.040

5. Wilmar  -0.040

5. KepCorp  -0.040

US markets closed positive last Thursday ahead of the long weekend while both Nikkei and SSE closed negative last Friday.  Asian bourses were mostly in the red with Nikkei closed -0.11%, SSE -1.51% ( concern over further tightening ) and HSI was closed for holiday.  STI rose above 3,200 on open but with profit taking kicking in forced it to close -0.22% in a thin volume day tracking performance of Nikkei and SSE.  European markets were mostly closed for holiday too further give no direction for STI.  In the afternoon, Singapore CPI for March came out as expected +5% and most analysts believed that was peak.  With most of the index stocks going on Ex-basis today and tomorrow, that further piled up the pressure on the STI.  Investors will be looking at more US corporate earnings and US Fed meeting this week.  Investors are looking at the next step when QE2 expires in June for US.