STI rises but broad market sags

AS the first half of 2017 winds down to a close this Friday, the Straits Times Index on Tuesday rose 10.06 points to 3,219.53 in a relatively quiet but volatile session during which it closely tracked swings in the Dow futures. At 5pm, the latter stood just 18 points weaker after having lost about 50 points a few minutes earlier.

Turnover was an average 1.6 billion units worth S$936 million, and excluding warrants there were 197 rises versus 240 falls, so the session was weak.

In the property sector, shares of UOL rose S$0.09 to S$7.69 on volume of 2.2 million. The company last week announced an option agreement with Haw Par Corporation under which UOL has a call option and Haw Par has a put option for United Industrial Corporation Limited (UIC) shares, in a proposed transaction that may make UOL one of the largest owners of commercial space in Singapore. On completion, UOL's stake in UIC will increase from 44.71 to a…