Market Summary -- 25th Feb 11

FTSE STI closed 3,025.16, up 52.08 points or +1.75% with a total volume of 1.26b and a total value of S$1.49b.  Total number of advance vs decline was 414 vs 115.  Of the 30 component index stocks, 28 closed positive and 2 closed negative.  The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-

1. Jardine C&C  +1.00

2. CityDev  +0.380

3. KepCorp  +0.240

4. UOB  +0.240

5. HKLand US$  +0.220

The 2 loser component stocks were :-

1. JSH 500US$  -0.620

2. SembMar  -0.020

US markets closed mixed yesterday night as the fear of the middle east crisis eased as oil price pull back.  Unexpected fall in jobless claims and higher new home sales data also supporting the economic front.  Asian bourses managed to rebound from yesterday sharply sold down.  Nikkei closed +0.71%, SSE 0% and HSI +1.82%.  STI moved back above 3,000 level closing +1.75% at 3,025.16.  28 out of 30 component stocks recorded positive closing.  UOB reported a better than expected earning and Singapore Jan manufacturing data also came in better than expected.  That coupling with easing of the middle east fear attracted bargain hunter and short covering to push up the index.  Though market rebounded, at the moment STI is capped at 3,040 and middle east situation is still closely monitor.