Market Summary -- 19th Apr 11

FTSE STI closed 3,125.37, down 19.01 points or -0.60% with a total volume of 1.08b and a total value of S$1.33b.  Total number of advance vs decline was 176 vs 287.  Of the 30 component index stocks, 7 closed positive, 20 closed negative and 3 remained unchanged.  The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-

1. SembMar  +0.040

2. Genting SP  +0.020

3. Olam  +0.020

4. NobleGrp  +0.020

5. DBS  +0.020

The top 5 loser component stocks were :-

1. Jardine C&C  -0.640

2. JMH 400US$  -0.620

3. OCBC  -0.270

4. JSH 500US$  -0.260

5. UOB  -0.180

US markets fell at least 1% yesterday night with Citigroup profit fell 32% but beat market expectation but the actual cause of selling down was S&P downgrade US debt rating to negative.  Asian bourses took the cue and were traded in negative region for the day.  Nikkei closed -1.21%, SSE -1.91% and HSI -1.30%.  STI hit the support of 3,110 and rebound to close at 3,125.37 down 0.60% with news of Singapore General Election will be held on 7th May coupling with positive European markets opening attracted some bargain hunting and short covering to rebound from low.  More corporate earnings from US will be in focus and at the same time US Government will need to work out plan to cut its deficit to prevent any further downgrade of debt rating.