FTSE STI closed 1,620.29 down 41.81 or 2.52% with a total volume of 790M and a total value of S$650M. Total number of advance vs decline was 108 vs 284. Of the 30 component stocks, 4 closed positive, 25 closed negative and 1 remained unchanged. The 4 gainer component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C +0.080
2. SingTel +0.030
3. KepCorp +0.010
4. NobleGrp +0.005
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ -0.960
2. UOB -0.440
3. DBS -0.330
4. CityDev -0.300
5. SIA -0.240
Even though US markets closed on a positive note last Friday, Asia bourses did not follow and most of them open in the negative as concern was on the fate of Citigroup which required Government bailout. Markets also not reacting to China $10 trillion stimulus plan either. During lunchtime, there was news that US Govt did a US$306b guarantee for Citigroup and inject US$20b to help Citigroup. However, Asia bourses still not reacting positively to the news resulting in HSI closing 1.6% down, SSE 3.6% down and STI 2.52% down. European bourses on the other hands reacted quite positively and mostly opened up at least 1%. Investors will be monitoring tonight how US markets react to the Citigroup bailout news.
