STI narrowly avoids 8th consecutive loss

W ALL Street's rebound on Monday may have come as a pleasant surprise, but it was not wholly unanticipated. The Straits Times Index (STI), which is often an advance predictor of the US's performance later on the same day, had already on Monday climbed significantly out of its intra-day low that day.

As a result, the impact of the US market's jump on the local market on Tuesday was subdued; after an initial bounce of about 25 points - which most likely came from leftover short covering from Monday - the STI drifted to a nett gain of just 1.05 points to 2,916.78.

The main consolation was that the index narrowly avoided an eighth consecutive loss, although it did drop into the red in the late afternoon.