Prices weaken in low volume

WEAKENING prices amidst declining liquidity - this is a combination dreaded by most investors and brokers. Unfortunately, such a situation prevailed painfully in Tuesday's session. The Straits Times Index (STI) was weak throughout the day and ended with an 11.51 points loss at 3,471.19 amidst turnover of 1.5 billion units worth S$886 million - believed to be the lowest one-day total in at least three months.

A large sell-off in Hong Kong and caution ahead of the release of the latest US jobs numbers on Friday were cited as the main reasons for the selling, at least by those who needed to hear plausible explanations for the weakness. Excluding warrants, the advance-decline score was 175-279.

Penny stocks made a modest comeback, as was shown in the average value per unit traded of S$0.60. This compares with S$1.07 last Thursday and about S$0.68 on Monday.