Singapore stocks finish higher in low volume

HAVING plunged almost 47 points on Monday after North Korea's nuclear test over the weekend, the Straits Times Index on Tuesday rebounded 20.29 points to 3,251.26.

However, a 40-points drop in the Dow futures and an indifferent session over in Hong Kong suggested that markets were still very concerned about how the North Korean situation would play out. The low volume of 1.7 billion units worth S$840.1 million traded on Tuesday pointed to the absence of many players.

Excluding warrants there were 237 rises versus 174 falls and the average value per unit traded was about S$0.49. Of the 20 most active stocks, 16 cost under S$0.20. Rowsley topped the list, ending S$0.003 higher at S$0.112 on volume of 122.8 million, while semiconductor firm Jadason Enterprises' shares were also active, ending S$0.002 firmer at S$0.097 on turnover of 20.3 million.