ST Index drops as selling resumes

TUESDAY'S rise in the Straits Times Index (STI) proved very short-lived as the selling resumed on Wednesday, the index dropping 30.7 points or 1.05 per cent to 2,886.08 for its eighth loss in nine sessions. Weakness in the Dow futures which signalled a soft day for Wall Street on Wednesday combined with pressure in Hong Kong and China to drag prices here lower, resulting in an advance-decline score excluding warrants of 115-271.

Turnover amounted to 973.8 million units worth S$978 million, of which S$631 million or 65 per cent was done in STI members. Stripping out the 30 index components left 760 million units worth S$347 million, for an average of S$0.46 per unit.

DBS Bank was among the larger index losers with a S$0.27 or 1.6 per cent fall to S$16.81 on turnover of 5.5 million. Macquarie Warrants in its daily newsletter reported that Macquarie Equities Research (MER) hosted a Q3 2015 post-results lunch with DBS management on Nov 6.