Window-dressing may creep in next week

A SLUMP in oil prices and overnight weakness on Wall Street made for a weak Thursday for the local stock market. The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 34.59 points or 1.2 per cent to 2,847.39.

There were losses for equities throughout the region. The Hang Seng Index lost 1.3 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite Index, 1.6 per cent.

In a holiday-shortened week, the STI fell 59 points or 2 per cent; for the year to date, it is down 1.2 per cent.

The government's Budget did not figure on Thursday at all; this came as no surprise, as Budget…