Lots of penny activity as STI moves to Jardine's tune

AT ONE end of the size spectrum, we had the Jardine group in focus this week as Jardine Matheson, Jardine Strategic, Jardine Cycle & Carriage and Hongkong Land were chiefly responsible for volatility in the Straits Times Index.

At the other end, penny stocks Albedo, Blumont, JK Tech, AusGroup and JES International stood out because of various company-specific developments, though not all had a positive impact on share prices.

The external backdrop throughout was Wednesday's release of the minutes of the latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting which clarified the…