SELL in May and go away - that's what the old adage recommends. It's now 10 days and counting - that's how long the Straits Times Index has been falling, during which it has lost 230 points or 7.8 per cent. This week's fall was 108 points or 3.8 per cent, including Friday's 37.01-point slide to 2,730.80.

Trading has been getting progressively narrower as the days pass, with the bulk of activity focused in the 30 STI stocks. On Friday, the STI's turnover was S$854 million versus the whole market's 967.3 million units worth S$1.1 billion, which in dollar terms was 78 per cent.

The advance-decline score was 136-270 excluding warrants, which means some 400 counters were either not traded or closed unchanged.