STI resumes fall as Covid-19 fears fester

SINGAPORE'S Straits Times Index (STI) slipped on Wednesday as worries over Covid-19 infection numbers and economic damage triggered by the virus continued to bug investors.

Overnight, US President Donald Trump warned of a "very, very painful two weeks" for the US as American deaths from the coronavirus could hit 240,000. Fears are also mounting over a spike in infections in India, which until recently was relatively shielded from the outbreak.

China's private survey of factory data, which focuses on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), may have pointed to an expansion in March. But manufacturing data in Japan and South Korea saw considerable falls, weighing on sentiment.