Market Summary -- 5th Jan 11

FTSE STI closed 3,254.25, up 3.96 points or +0.12% with a total volume of 2.03b and a total value of S$2.10b.  Total number of advance vs decline was 256 vs 244.  Of the 30 component index stocks, 14 closed positive, 9 closed negative and 7 remained unchanged.  The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-

1. OCBC  +0.180

2. Capitaland  +0.100

3. DBS  +0.100

4. UOB  +0.080

5. SIA Engg  +0.070

5. F&N  +0.070

The top 5 loser component stocks were :-

1. JSH 500US$  -0.640

2. HKLand US$  -0.130

3. SIA  -0.080

4. SGX  -0.080

5. SembMar  -0.080

US markets closed mixed yesterday night with DJ positive while Nasdaq and S&P500 both in the red.  US auto car sales fared better than expectation and US Fed minutes indicated that US economy is recovering slowly and should not ease on the bond buying program to assist the economy growth.  Asian markets took a pause today after past days of rally as profit taking kicked in.  Nikkei closed -0.17%, SSE -0.49% and HSI +0.38%.  STI swung between positive and negative region with investors buying on dip supporting profit taking.  At one point STI rose to 3,263 but with European markets opened down average 1% probably in fear of poor response to Portugal 6-month bills sale today, STI pared the gain and only close +0.12% from yesterday.  14 out of 30 component stocks managed to register positive closing with banking stocks leading the up.