Market Summary -- 17th Feb 11

FTSE STI closed 3,082.83, down 11.89 points or -0.38% with a total volume of 1.14b and a total value of S$1.51b.  Total number of advance vs decline was 217 vs 248.  Of the 30 component index stocks, 10 closed positive, 15 closed negative and 5 remained unchanged.  The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-

1. KepCorp  +0.200

2. SembMar  +0.150

3. NOL  +0.070

4. SembCorp  +0.050

5. OCBC  +0.040

5. JSH 500US$  +0.040

The top 5 loser component stocks were :-

1. UOB  -0.140

2. DBS  -0.120

3. HKLand US$  -0.110

4. SIA  -0.100

5. SIA Engg  -0.080

US markets closed positive yesterday night after strong earning from Dell.  Asian bourses were mostly positive for the day with Nikkei closed +0.26%, SSE +0.10% and HSI +0.63%.  STI however bucked the trend with a -0.38% close as investors were concern about the rising inflation.  This morning MTI released a 4Q10 GDP and inflation data.  FY2010 GDP was +14.5% vs earlier estimate of +14.7% while Singapore Government raise inflation forecast from 2%-3% to 3%-4%.  Investors were concern of MAS tightening policy next.  Blue chips were mixed with offshore/marine stocks providing the gain while SingTel, DBS, UOB and SIA offsetting the gain.  Investors will be looking at tomorrow Singapore Budget for 2011 for any clue of Singapore 2011 economic growth plan.