FTSE STI closed 2,658.21, up 28.86 points or +1.10% with a total volume of 1.23b and a total value of S$1.13b. Total number of advance vs decline was 280 vs 181. Of the 30 component index stocks, 21 closed positive, 8 closed negative and 1 remained unchanged. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. DBS +0.400
2. UOB +0.340
3. SIA +0.180
4. CityDev +0.170
5. OCBC +0.150
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ -0.500
2. JSH 500US$ -0.080
3. HKLand US$ -0.040
4. ComfortDelGro -0.030
5. F&N -0.020
5. SMRT -0.020
US markets rose at least 2% with DJ closed above the 10,000 level with news of improving labour market and rising October retail sales. Asia bourses took the cue and traded in the positive region for the day with Nikkei closed +0.74%, SSE +0.29% and HSI +1.63%. STI closed +1.10% with bank stocks leading the advance after DBS posted a better than expectation earning this morning. With the weakening of the USD, commodity stocks also advanced. SingTel after past few days of selling down recovered $0.05 and closed at day high. Investors will be looking at tonight US unemployment rate with a previous reading of 9.8% and most expecting the figure to hit 10% next year.
