Market Summary -- 20th May 11

FTSE STI closed 3,168.54, down 4.02 points or -0.13% with a total volume of 1.24b and a total value of S$1.29b.  Total number of advance vs decline was 167 vs 270.  Of the 30 component index stocks, 13 closed positive, 14 closed negative and 3 remained unchanged.  The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-

1. JMH 400US$  +0.720

2. Jardine C&C  +0.560

3. JSH 500US$  +0.280

4. HKLand US$  +0.060

5. Olam  +0.030

5. F&N  +0.030

5. SingTel  +0.030

The top 5 loser component stocks were :-

1. UOB  -0.220

2. DBS  -0.120

3. CityDev  -0.080

4. SembMar  -0.050

5. KepCorp  -0.040

5. CapMallsAsia  -0.040

US markets continued to move up with at least +0.3% despite weak economic data on home sales offsetting an unexpected drop in jobless claims.  Asian bourses were however muted of the response as investors took profit over the weekend.  Nikkei closed -0.14%, SSE -0.04% and HSI +0.16%.  STI shed 0.13% on profit taking on banking stocks.  Despite a positive opening from European markets, investors chose to take profit ahead of the weekend and maintain cautious.  STI at the moment capped at 3,180 with immediate support at 3,120.