STI falls on UK poll move, Wall St loss

Citi sees political & geopolitical risks continuing to dominate short-term price action, keep investors in Asia anxious

Anita Gabriel

Published Wed, Apr 19, 2017 · 09:50 PM

A CONFLUENCE of factors, chiefly British Prime Minister Theresa May's surprise decision to call a snap election in the UK and a lower closing in Wall Street on Tuesday, led share prices in the local bourse to close lower for the fourth straight trading day on Wednesday.

The key Straits Times Index (STI) fell 11.26 points or 0.4 per cent to finish at 3,126.28. Most Asian markets were lower except for Japan, where the Nikkei 225 bucked the trend with a higher close of 0.07 per cent.

China's main indices fell for the fourth consecutive session with the Shanghai Composite losing 0.81 per cent on concerns over stiffer controls on speculation and shadow banking. Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.4 per cent while Australia's ASX fe…