STI slips again as central bankers meet

CAUTIOUS investors with an eye on the US Federal Reserve and ongoing geopolitical uncertainties stayed on the sidelines and let Singapore shares fall to a fifth straight decline on Monday.

The Straits Times Index (STI) opened slightly higher by 1.39 points, but slipped steadily over the session to close at 3,246.99, lower by 0.15 per cent or five points. Losers outnumbered gainers 257 to 179, or 10 stocks down for every seven up.

It was a quiet start to the week, with only 1.2 billion shares worth S$961.6 million changing hands. That represented about half of the average daily trading volume of 2.4 billion shares in the first seven months of the year, and 80 per cent of the average daily trading turnover of S$1.2 billion.