Banks' price retreat pulls down STI

THE three Singapore banks have propped up the Straits Times Index (STI) and ensured its outperformance in the past fortnight as other markets tanked in the wake of sliding oil prices. So it was perhaps only to be expected that a collapse in the banks on Tuesday sent the index reeling by 79.05 points or 2.4 per cent to 3,215.09.

Turnover was a relatively heavy 1.2 billion units worth S$1.45 billion, of which S$522 million or 36 per cent was done in the 30 STI stocks. The value of business done in the banks amounted to S$321 million, roughly 22 per cent of the whole market's dollar volume. Excluding warrants, the market could muster only 96 rises versus 337 falls.

Persistent weakness in oil has been cited as the main reason for the turmoil in stock markets - Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index on Tuesday dropped 1.6 per cent and the Nikkei fell 2 per cent.