Market a hive of activity as month ends

THE last day of February saw the Straits Times Index (STI) fall 12.01 points to 3,096.61, very much within expectations as markets wait to hear US President Donald Trump's address to Congress.

The broad market sagged with 166 rises against 348 falls excluding warrants but it was the spurt in volume which caught the eye as it suggested month-end portfolio rebalancing. More than 2.7 billion units worth S$2.65 billion, more than twice the S$1.1 billion done on Monday and the highest one-day total in 2017.

Most of the loss came in mid-afternoon, when the Dow futures fell into the red and selling picked up pace in Hong Kong that dragged it to a 0.8 per cent loss. At 5pm, the Dow futures stood almost flat for the day.