STI drops 4.4% over the week, taking loss for 2016 to 8.7%

THE first week of 2016 saw the Straits Times Index (STI) lose 4.6 per cent while the second, which is the one that has just passed, saw it drop 121 points or 4.4 per cent. In all, 2016's loss to date has been about 252 points or 8.7 per cent - more, if US dollars are used.

Turbulence in China and ever-weakening oil prices have been cited as the main reasons for the selloff that has hit mainly offshore and marine (O&M) stocks, with spillover weakness in other blue chips such as the banks.

Volume has been heavily concentrated in the 30 STI components - every day for the past week, around 70 per cent of dollar business comes from trading of thes…