FTSE STI closed 2,753.51, down 21.03 points or -0.76% with a total volume of 1.75b and a total value of S$1.81b. Total number of advance vs decline was 109 vs 404. Of the 30 component index stocks, 9 closed positive, 18 closed negative and 3 remained unchanged. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ +0.400
2. SGX +0.080
3. HKLand US$ +0.060
4. SPH +0.040
5. SingTel +0.020
5. Capitaland +0.020
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C -0.900
2. JSH 500US$ -0.600
3. DBS -0.280
4. Wilmar -0.260
5. CityDev -0.160
US markets recovered from deep selling near closing yesterday night after US Fed minutes indicated US recovery is improving. However, US markets still close in the red. Asia bourses took negative closing and continued the selling again with Nikkei closed -1.54%, SSE -1.23% and HSI -0.17%. STI opened in the positive but soon sink into the red with the selling and hit an intra-day low of 2,735.7. That level is almost 10% drop from the recent peak of 3,037. STI managed to recover later the day when European markets opened in the positive and some short-covering plus bargain hunting brought STI to close at 2,753.51. This morning, Singapore Government released its 1Q10 GDP with a reading of +38.6% better than its previous reading of +32.1% and project GDP growth for FY10 to be 7.0% - 9.0%. Investors will be looking at further development of the Euro-zone debt issue and how US reacts to it.
