Market Summary -- 24th Feb 11

FTSE STI closed 3,001.85, down 17.27 points or -0.57% with a total volume of 2.54b and a total value of S$2.73b.  Total number of advance vs decline was 176 vs 327. Of the 30 component index stocks, 6 closed positive, 19 closed negative and 5 remained unchanged.  The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-

1. HKLand US$  +0.140

2. UOB  +0.100

3. CityDev  +0.080

4. NOL  +0.030

5. Capitaland  +0.020

The top 5 loser component stocks were :-

1. JMH 400US$  -0.820

2. Jardine C&C  -0.440

3. JSH 500US$  -0.420

4. Wilmar  -0.210

5. SIA  -0.120

US markets dropped at least 1.5% yesterday night in reaction to the Libya crisis.  Asian bourses were mixed.  Nikkei closed -0.80%, SSE +0.25% and HSI -0.36%.  STI swinging between the 3,000 level closed down 0.57% at 3,001.85.  The fear of the middle east crisis still there and together with this afternoon released of inflation data ( January CPI came in +5.5% vs +4.8% expected ) didn't manage to ease the selling pressure.