Penny stocks, takeover talks help traders in a quiet market

SECOND- and third-line action continued to provide the main focus for traders here this week, as blue chips failed to make much headway - possibly because of an unconvincing Wall Street, but also because of poor liquidity and low volatility.

Over the five days, the Straits Times Index managed a 13-point or 0.4 per cent rise to 3,271.05. Yesterday's session yielded a 7.5-point loss - hardly surprising, given that the index had jumped 17 points on Thursday, a rise that some observers thought was a feeble attempt at early half-year-ending window dressing.

Turnover throughout the week dipped regularly below the $1 billion mark. Volume yesterday amounted to 1.6 billion units worth $727.3 million. Excluding warrants, there were 189 rises versus 205 falls. It was only marginally better than Tuesday's six-month low of $697 million.