Singapore stocks finish lower after oil weakness, Trump news

THE local stock market shrugged off Wednesday's all-time high for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, opting instead to focus on a fall in the Dow futures and a 1.2 per cent loss for Hong Kong that came after a 3.5 per cent drop in oil prices and news that US President Donald Trump is under investigation for possible obstruction of justice.

Banks were the main victims in the 21.34 points loss at 3,232.09 sustained by the Straits Times Index, a fall that occurred in trading volume of 2.2 billion units worth S$1.1 billion - the highest so far this week. The broad market registered 148 rises versus 302 falls, excluding warrants. The FTSE ST Finance Index lost 0.8 per cent at 906.68.

The Dow futures traded in the red throughout the day after the underlying index had ended at a new all-time high on Wednesday. At 5pm, the contract had dropped 75 points, pointing clearly to a weak Thursday opening for Wall Street. Europe opened in the red across all markets.