THE Straits Times Index on Thursday slipped 0.96 of a point to 3,175.59 amid weak sentiment that emerged in response to the sudden jitters on Wall Street on Wednesday when the Dow Jones Industrial Average reversed a 200-point rise to close in the red. That dramatic reversal was attributed to two developments - US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan saying that tax reform would be harder than healthcare reform, and release of the Federal Reserve's March Open Markets Committee meeting which suggested three rate hikes may occur in 2017 instead of the anticipated two.

Trading here was relatively subdued as a result of Wall St's uncertain performance and helping keep traders at bay was that the Dow futures slipped marginally into the red. Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index finished with a 0.5 per cent loss.

Turnover in Singapore amounted to 3.1 billion units worth S$1.03 billion and excluding warrants, there were 160 rises versus 325 falls.