Singtel leads ST Index's 1.7% fall

SINGTEL'S S$0.12 slide to S$3.54 ahead of its Q3 results on Friday accounted for 11 points of the total loss of 43.82 points or 1.7 per cent suffered by the Straits Times Index on Thursday, in a session that was weak and devoid of many redeeming features.

The index's fall to 2,538.28 came in line with a 3.9 per cent drop in Hong Kong, a 270-point loss for the Dow futures that indicated Wall Street would be in for a torrid Thursday, and a fall in the oil price to below US$27 per barrel.

Turnover amounted to 817 million units worth S$1.05 billion compared with Wednesday's S$1.2 billion, and excluding warrants there were 119 rises versus…