Market Summary -- 5th Mar 12

FTSE STI closed 2,991.80, down 1.69 points or -0.06% with a total volume of 1.41b and a total value of S$919M.  Total number of advance vs decline was 142 vs 275.  Of the 30 component index stocks, 8 closed positive, 18 closed negative and 4 remained unchanged.  The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-

1. JMH 400US$  +1.500

2. JSH 500US$  +0.480

3. HKLand US$  +0.190

4. SIA Engg  +0.070

5. F&N  +0.030

5. GLP  +0.030

The top 5 loser component stocks were :-

1. Jardine C&C  -0.620

2. CityDev  -0.200

3. SIA  -0.160

4. SembCorp  -0.110

5. OCBC  -0.060

US markets closed in the red last Friday in thin volume as profit taking kicked in.  Asian bourses were mostly in the red for the day after China cut its growth forecast for 2012 to 7.5%.  Nikkei closed -0.80%, SSE -0.64% and HSI -1.38%.  STI better off that regional bourses but still closed -0.03% in a very thin volume day.  Only 8 of the 30 index stocks managed to register positive closing.

Concern of China slowing down and lacking of positive catalysts coupling with majority of the investors sideline, market was directionaless with bias towards selling pressure.  The only data whereby investors will be looking at this week would be this Friday US employment situation.  Markets should be in consolidation, sideway, range bound and directionless for next couple of weeks until the earning season begins in April unless some unexpected event occurs along the way.