Market Trend

Between May 17^th and May 31^st, MCI index plummeted more than 300 points to 7077.7 points. The depreciation of the Euro against the dollar, triggered by the debt crisis, led to the increase in procurement costs for retailers; further, as end-market purchase momentum in the European market stagnated, brand vendors scaled back their demand for panels. In addition, as mentioned previously, affected by weaker-than-expected sales performance in China during Labor Day holiday, brand vendors tend to focus on clearing away inventory in 2Q10. Therefore, amid declining panel prices and weakening market demand, market sentiments toward panel makers’ performance in 2Q10 are relatively less optimistic, leading to the sequential decline of MCI.