DBS, OCBC the main pillars as STI rises for sixth consecutive day

DBS Group Holdings and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) took over from United Overseas Bank (UOB) as the main index drivers on Wednesday. With assistance also from Keppel Corp and a handful of other blue chips, the outcome for the Straits Times Index (STI) was a 13.4-point rise to 3,345.91 in the holiday-shortened session.

It was the sixth consecutive rise for the index after it had plunged 79 points or 2.4 per cent on Tuesday last week on oil-related worries. Since then, the index has bounced 130 points or 4 per cent. Brokers once again spoke of the possibility that most funds, having had a poor 2014, might be capitalising on the US market's record highs to window-dress the STI in the few days that remain for this year.

Turnover was unsurprisingly a low 619.5 million units worth S$475.6 million and, excluding warrants, there were 210 rises against 109 falls, indicating that around 500 counters were either not changed or not traded.