Market Summary -- 16th Feb 11

FTSE STI closed 3,094.72, up 14.06 points or +0.46% with a total volume of 1.20b and a total value of S$1.67b.  Total number of advance vs decline was 263 vs 189.  Of the 30 component index stocks, 17 closed positive, 8 closed negative and 5 remained unchanged.  The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-

1. Jardine C&C  +1.240

2. KepCorp  +0.360

3. JMH 400US$  +0.160

4. ST Engg  +0.130

5. OCBC  +0.070

The top 5 loser component stocks were :-

1. DBS  -0.240

2. SIA  -0.140

3. SIA Engg  -0.040

4. StarHub  -0.040

5. UOB  -0.040

US markets fell at least 0.3% yesterday night with mixed economic data.  January retail sale was lower than expected but manufacturing data was in line with expectation.  Asian bourses mostly rebound from yesterday drop with Nikkei closed +0.57%, SSE +0.85% and HSI +1.12%.  STI range bound between 3,050 to 3,100 close +0.46% with offshore/marine stocks providing the upside while banking stocks weighed on the index.  Investors bargain hunt after last week 4% sold down and with Singapore inflation and GDP data due to release tomorrow and Budget day on Friday.