Singapore shares finish broadly weak; STI rises thanks to banks and Singtel

LIFTED by another all-time high on Wall Street on Friday, the Straits Times Index (STI) on Monday kicked the week off on firm footing, gaining 15.32 points at 2,874.65 thanks entirely to the banks and Singtel.

However, an 80-point drop in the Dow futures and a weak opening Europe-wide which suggested an unsteady opening for the US market this week meant the STI closed 15 points off its intraday high of 2,889.

Turnover was a moderate 1.4 billion units worth S$1.1 billion and excluding warrants there were 174 rises versus 278 falls so the broad market was much weaker than the index's reading might suggest.