Dow futures' late selloff trims STI's gains

A DRAB session for the local stock market on Thursday ended with the Straits Times Index a nett 7.75 points firmer at 2,558.49, the broad market chalking up 208 rises versus 148 falls excluding warrants and weak turnover of 759 million units worth S$867.4 million.

Helping boost prices was a 100-point rise in the Dow futures and marginally firmer oil prices. However, at 5 pm, the Dow futures stood only 30 points higher, thus dragging the STI 21 points down from its intraday high of 2,579.

Offshore and marine (O&M) stocks were slightly firmer as a result of the rise in oil, though the gains were modest - for instance Keppel Corp rose only S$0.04 to S$4.86 and SembCorp Marine just S$0.01 to S$1.45. Elsewhere, banks were mixed - DBS and OCBC rose but UOB weakened.