FTSE STI closed 3,066.81, up 44.53 points or +1.47% with a total volume of 1.63b and a total value of S$1.77b. Total number of advance vs decline was 324 vs 177. Of the 30 component index stocks, 25 closed positive, 3 closed negative and 2 remained unchanged. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C +1.560
2. JMH 400US$ +0.720
3. JSH 500US$ +0.500
4. HKLand US$ +0.350
5. Olam +0.200
The 3 loser component stocks were :-
1. Wilmar -0.050
2. UOB -0.040
3. CityDev -0.020
US markets closed positive last Friday with data showing larger than expected increase in inventories at US wholesalers. Over the weekend, China also released data showing bigger than expected import figure and coupled with new banking rules being set by banks to have sufficient tier 1 ratio worldwide have provided some bullish sentiment to the market. Nikkei closed +0.89%, SSE +0.94% and HSI +1.89%. STI traded in the positive region throughout the day managed to set a new high for this year closing +1.47% at 3,066.81 with 25 out of 30 component stocks closed positive. An at least +1% opening in European bourses and positive DJ future caused some bargain buying and lifted the index to close at new year 2010 high.
