FTSE STI closed 1,779.29, down 2.80 points or 0.16% with a total volume of 1.08b and a total value of S$985M. Total number of advance vs decline was 199 vs 195. Of the 30 component stocks, 16 closed positive, 9 closed negative and 5 remained unchanged. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ +0.900
2. JSH 500US$ +0.620
3. CityDev +0.220
4. Jardine C&C +0.140
5. Capitaland +0.070
5. KepCorp +0.070
5. Wilmar +0.070
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. SIA -0.280
2. DBS -0.240
3. OCBC -0.200
4. UOB -0.080
5. Cosco -0.060
US Federal Reserve cut the Fed fund rate by more than 0.5% to between 0% and 0.25%; virtually 0% and exceed market expectation and also vowed to use whatever instruments available to stimulate lending to save the ailing economy next. US markets rallied on the news. Asia bourses though cheered on the news but market sentiment still pretty weak as most of the bourses failed to rally with momentum. Nikkei closed +0.52%, HSI closed +2.18% and SSE closed +0.09%. STI due to SGX server data transmission problem whereby traders facing difficulties in sending in the correct transaction prices closed down by 2.80 points. The virtually 0% interest rate might give some cheers to the market short-term but as long as banks still refuse to lend, the financial condition still unable to improve. Investors are also cautious on the outcome of the 3 automakers bailout.
