FTSE STI closed 1,577.52, up 83.99 points or 5.62% with a total volume of 1.38b and a total value of S$1.06b. Total number of advance vs decline was 299 vs 136. Of the 30 component index stocks, 29 closed positive and 1 remained unchanged. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C +0.950
2. UOB +0.650
3. DBS +0.490
4. CityDev +0.360
4. SIA +0.360
US markets rallied at least 3% yesterday night after a better than expected retail sales figure and Bank of America issued an operating profit for 1Q09. Asia bourses despite it was a Friday today, mostly traded higher for the day. Nikkei closed +5.15%, HSI +4.37% and SSE -0.24%. STI closed on the intra-day high with a +5.62% gain led by broad market buying up.
