JARDINE stocks may have taken a back seat to CapitaLand and other property plays in supporting the Straits Times Index (STI) on Tuesday and Wednesday, but they made a comeback yesterday when rises in the Jardine stable helped keep the STI in positive territory - but only just. After dipping into the red for much of the afternoon, the index finished a net 0.6 of a point higher at 3,253.8.

Jardine Cycle & Carriage's $1.31 or 2.8-per cent jump to $48.23 stood out, though there were also rises in Jardine Matheson and Jardine Strategic which contributed. Turnover was 1.8 billion units worth $1.2 billion and excluding warrants, there were 235 rises versus 202 falls.

Among the index heavyweights to finish weaker was Keppel Corp, whose shares lost 20 cents at $10.99 with 6.7 million traded.