STI suffers eleventh loss in 12 sessions

GAINS in Hong Kong, a 100-points rise in the Dow futures and a firm opening for Europe on Tuesday could not prevent the Straits Times Index (STI) from registering an eleventh loss in twelve sessions when it dropped 24.91 points to 2,741.15.

Falls in the three banks were the main drags while support for the index came from modest gains for Hongkong Land and CapitaLand.

Turnover was a weak 857 million units worth S$913.1 million and excluding warrants there were 160 rises versus 224 falls.

For the umpteenth session this year, banks drove the STI. All three have reported first quarter earnings which were largely unspectacular but within expectations, while analysts have almost unanimously expressed concerns over banks' exposure to the troubled offshore and mari…