FTSE STI closed 2,757.14, down 12.05 points or -0.44% with a total volume of 1.41b and a total value of S$1.35b. Total number of advance vs decline was 150 vs 318. Of the 30 component index stocks, 9 closed positive, 17 closed negative and 4 remained unchanged. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. UOB +0.080
2. SIA +0.080
3. Wilmar +0.080
4. SMRT +0.030
5. CapitaMall +0.020
5. StarHub +0.020
5. Jardine C&C +0.020
5. OCBC +0.020
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ -0.500
2. JSH 500US$ -0.260
3. CityDev -0.160
4. HKLand US$ -0.130
5. F&N -0.100
US markets on average advanced 0.5% yesterday night despite a rise in jobless claim but after market closed US Fed announced discount rate hike of 0.25%. This announcement has caused a short term bad news on equity result in Asia bourses under selling pressure. Nikkei closed -2.05% and HSI -2.59%. STI fell in line with other regional bourses and closed -12.05 points. However, a flattish opening for European bourses recovered some of the earlier loss. Investors will be looking at tonight US markets reaction to the rate hike announcement and also what will happen to SSE when it reopens next Monday after 1 week lunar new years. Before the holiday break, China announced increase of reserve ratio for the banks and that news have yet to be digested by SSE. This morning MIT announced Singapore 4Q GDP and it was -2.8% as compared with market expectation of -5.2%. Singapore Government also forecasts a GDP growth of between 4.5% to 6.5% in 2010. In the afternoon, OCBC announced a better than expected set of earning.
