Market Outlook

As trading started on Thursday the STI rose 4.33%, continuing from
its
rebound on Wednesday. At midday, the blue chip index was 129.31
points
higher at 3,112.93 after dropping 7.76% during the first two days of
the
week. However, as the afternoon session started the STI came off from
its
early morning surge. The STI closed 66.47 points higher at 3,050.09
with a total volume of 2.4b shares traded worth $3.4b. Gainers beat
losers 594 to
288 respectively. Leading the STI up were SGX, DBS, UOB, and Cosco.
With their efforts they pushed the STI up a total of 41.53 points.
Leading the STI down was Singtel which lowered the index by 6.6
points. SGX closed
$0.91 up at $10.10, DBS gained $0.66 and closed $18.46 higher, UOB
closed
$0.56 higher at $17.58, and Cosco rose $0.48 closing at $4.68.
Singtel lost $0.07 and finished at $3.69. With the strong surge in
the STI on Thursday we expect our local market to remain
volatile, and strongly supported by the blue chips.

Media Highlights

- M1 posts 4.8% fall in Q4 net profit to $37.9m
- CCT posts 14.5% rise in Q4 distributable income
- Winstedt Chong makes offer after raising Vita stake
- SIA proves luckier than smart by losing China Eastern deal
- BH Global rides high on regional demand
- GuocoLeisure net hits US$15.8m
- Evergro hit by lower divestment gain

Economic Highlights

- China economy expands 11.4%
- US$1 US farm subsidy cut could lead to pact: India