Pennies in play as banks lift STI

ROTATIONAL playing of penny stocks was perhaps the dominant theme of Wednesday's session, even though the Straits Times Index (STI) managed a 14.85-point rise to 3,145.29.

Dollar volume has been on the downtrend in recent sessions, from the average of S$1.5 billion per day last week to just over S$1 billion now - better than last year when it regularly dropped below S$1 billion but nonetheless a downtrend worth keeping an eye on.

On Wednesday, turnover amounted to 2.6 billion units worth S$1.14 billion for an average of S$0.44 per unit. Excluding warrants, there were 256 rises versus 204 falls. The rise in the index came in response to a rebound in the Dow futures and a firm closing for Hong Kong.