Pennies continue to reign as STI sags

A SLIDE in the Dow futures and 1.3 per cent loss in Hong Kong resulted in a weak session here in which bank stocks fell after news that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) had taken action against UBS and DBS for anti-money laundering lapses.

A 14.11 point loss in the Straits Times Index (STI) to 2,856.13 was the result, leaving second liners and speculatives to soak up pent-up trading energies. The top volume list comprised names that have been in play for several days such as Noble Group, SunMoon Food, Ezion, Ezra and Nam Cheong, though with the index as weak as it was, gains were thin on the ground. Excluding warrants, the advance-decline score was 165-250.

The MAS news hit the market before trading started, the gist of it being that the central bank has revoked the licence of Swiss bank Falcon Private Bank as part of MAS's investigation into beleagured Malaysian fund 1MDB and slapped S$1 million in fines on DBS and UBS. All three banks ended weaker, though all closed off their intraday lows.