Market recoups half of fortnight's losses

A 60-point rise in the Dow futures, a robust session in Hong Kong that saw the Hang Seng close at a 27-month high and strong domestic export numbers in Singapore on Monday combined to send the Straits Times Index 32.29 points up to 3,241.85, after it had dropped 69 points over the previous two weeks.

Turnover, however, was a mediocre 1.7 billion units worth S$1.07 billion, which was significantly lower than the S$1.7 billion done last Friday. Excluding warrants, there were 254 rises versus 177 falls.

Not surprisingly, it was the banking sector that contributed the most towards the index's rebound, with gains in the three local lenders contributing a total of 19 points.