FTSE STI closed 1,705.64, up 20.68 points or 1.23% with a total volume of 781M and a total value of S$844M. Total number of advance vs decline was 209 vs 141. Of the 30 component index stocks, 24 closed positive and 6 closed negative. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. UOB +0.320
2. DBS +0.260
3. SIA +0.160
4. KepLand +0.110
5. Jardine C&C +0.100
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400S$ -0.780
2. JSH 500US$ -0.400
3. ST Engg -0.040
4. HKLand US$ -0.020
5. StarHub -0.010
5. CapitaMall -0.010
US markets did a last hour recovery to close mixed when report of mortgage susidies planned by the Government surfaced. Asia bourses welcome the recovery of the US markets and opened mainly higher for the today. Nikkei closed +0.96%, HSI closed +2.46% and SSE closed +3.23%. STI also firmed up when investors snapping up the blue chips to close +1.23%. Bank, Property, Offshore/Marine, SIA and Singtel led the rally. DBS reported its earning this morning with a 4Q08 net profit of S$295M vs S$491M, missing market expectation of S$326M. Despite that DBS share rallied. With DJI future and European markets opened firm up, this help a last minute snapping up of blue chips. US Congress also managed to compromise on the 2 versions of stimulus bill and passed to President Obama to sign next Monday.
