THERE were no surprises in Monday's trading as the Straits Times Index dropped 37.76 points, or 1.4 per cent, to 2,593 following Friday's Wall Street blowout and a slide in oil to US$28 per barrel. Banks were the worst hit this time, though there was also pressure on offshore and marine (O&M) stocks, though Keppel Corp, which is due to release its 2015 results on Wednesday, managed a S$0.01 rise to S$4.85 with 10.8 million shares done.

Overall turnover was 1.45 billion units worth S$1.2 billion, the ninth consecutive day that business has crossed S$1 billion. Excluding warrants, there were 95 rises versus 351 falls.

All three banks were whacked - DBS dropped S$0.41, or 2.8 per cent, to S$14.23, UOB S$0.50, or 2.8 per cent, to S$17.10, and OCBC S$0.17, or 2.1 per cent, to S$7.78. RHB however, in a Jan 15 report, maintained an "overweight" on the sector. It noted that although concerns over China's slowing growth are not new, growing predictions that oil prices would stay at depressed levels are stoking fears that the banks would soon be hit with rising defaults in their oil and gas exposures.