STI falls for third straight day on bleak macro data despite oil rebound

THE Straits Times Index (STI) fell 7.67 points or 0.30 per cent to 2,542.37 in a third straight day of losses as punters tread cautiously into the first-quarter earnings season while chewing on bleak macro data, even after oil markets rebounded from a two-decade low.

OCBC Investment Research wrote in a note on Thursday: "Tonight, investors will digest the US Labor Department's latest report on jobless claims. Another 4.3 million workers are expected to have filed for benefits last week, which would bring the total number seeking benefits to over 26 million."

The note continued: "The number of cumulative claims rose to 22.025 million over four weeks prior, erasing nearly all of the 22.442 million jobs recovered since the Great Recession."