Market Summary -- 5th May 11

FTSE STI closed 3,109.85, down 3.91 points or -0.13% with a total volume of 1.17b and a total value of S$1.54b.  Total number of advance vs decline was 180 vs 272.  Of the 30 component index stocks, 12 closed positive, 13 closed negative and 5 remained unchanged.  The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-

1. JSH 500US$  +0.760

2. SIA  +0.160

3. JMH 400US$  +0.100

4. HKLand US$  +0.060

5. SembMar  +0.040

The top 5 loser component stocks were :-

1. Jardine C&C  -0.400

2. UOB  -0.340

3. DBS  -0.140

4. Wilmar  -0.100

5. KepCorp  -0.100

US markets closed down at least 0.5% as economic data came in below expectation.  Private sector hired less jobs than expected and Service sector growth came in below expectation too.  Concern of US economic strength and strengthening of USD ( drop of crude oil price ) caused investors to sell down.  Asian bourses were initially in the red reacting to US markets but closed mixed.  Nikkei still on holiday, SSE reversed loss to close +0.22%, HSI -0.23% and STI -0.13%.  STI dipped below the 3,100 level before crawling back to close 3,109.85 as bargain hunting push the index back up.