China weakness continues to weigh on STI

CONTINUED weakness in China and Hong Kong stocks meant the Straits Times Index (STI) kicked off the week with a 9.71 points or 0.30 per cent loss to 3,192.79 on Monday. This weakness was also evident in penny stocks where the rally of the past three weeks exhibited clear signs of serious strain - at the peak of the penny fever, average value per unit traded was about S$0.40; on Monday, a volume of 1.5 billion units worth S$1.14 billion gave an average value of S$0.76.

An advance-decline score of 138-350, excluding warrants, provided further grounds for thinking that the p…