STI shuffles sideways before Fed move

'TWAS the day before the United States Federal Reserve December meeting minutes, and the slithy toves - wait, wrong script. Well, nothing particularly exciting happened anyway in the local share market on Wednesday, as traders largely decided to beware the rate hike and stay put.

Though bank stocks went up, the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) moved sideways, dipping a marginal 1.17 points to close at 2,954.06. The biggest drag on the index was conglomerate Jardine Matheson Holdings.

The index's sideways move did not exactly mirror the broad market, where losers outnumbered gainers 230 to 200, or about eight down for every seven up.