Market pounded by same old worries

EIGHT days and counting - the Straits Times Index on Wednesday dropped for the eighth consecutive session, losing 38.13 points or 1.4 per cent at 2,773.07. The selling was fairly spread out within the index, with Singtel, Wilmar and OCBC the largest losers. Turnover at 898 million units worth S$1.23 billion was relatively heavy as it surpassed the S$1 billion average of the past week. Excluding warrants, there were 102 rises versus 276 falls.

Reasons for the weakness were the same as they have been for many months - worry over global growth starting in China, growing awareness that monetary stimulus by central banks has not worked, volatility in the oil market and concerns over wh…