Cautious rebound ahead of bank results

AFTER dropping 39 points on Tuesday because of a bank-led sell-off, the Straits Times Index (STI) rebounded 16.01 points on Wednesday to 3,088.48 after US banks pushed Wall Street to a new high overnight following comments from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen about the need the raise interest rates soon.

Turnover amounted to 3.3 billion units worth S$1.47 billion for an average of S$0.44 per unit. Excluding warrants, there were 299 rises versus 187 falls.

A few months ago, comments from Ms Yellen pointing to higher interest rates would have brought on large selling pressure in a market grown used to low rates and easy money. Now, higher rates are seen as being good for bank earnings; and so there was a rush to buy. The Dow futures on Wednesday rose 29 points, indicating a l…