After a tumultuous week, STI is flat for the year
IT's not been a good week for equities as economic growth worries all over the world led to a 56-point or 1.7-per cent loss for the Straits Times Index (STI) at 3,167.73. In Friday's session, short-covering in anticipation that Wall Street would rise on Friday led to a 13.52-point rise for the STI, its final reading at almost exactly the level at which it started the year.
A slowing US, a weak eurozone - made all the weaker by a stagnant Germany - and a stalling China are the main ingredients in the bearish mix which has sent markets into a tailspin over the past couple of weeks. As of Thursday's close, for example, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had lost almost 1,200 points from an all-time high reached about a month ago.
All this would not be news to regular observers who, by now, would have grown accustomed to the likelihood of prices here being mainly weak instead of strong each day. Daily volume, however, has picked up slightly - instead of the sub-S$1 billion totals that had become common, two out of the five trading days this week recorded volume above S$1 billion, the highest coming on Thursday when S$1.3 billion was done. In Friday's trading, 1.2 billion units worth S$1.1 billion were done.
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