STI slumps to five-month low

THE Straits Times Index (STI) on Tuesday traded almost entirely in the red before suffering a fourth consecutive fall when it ended 25.20 points or 0.76 per cent lower at 3,295.13. It was the lowest close since Jan 7, when the index closed at 3,298.

Turnover amounted to 1.4 billion shares worth S$1.3 billion compared to S$1.01 billion on Monday. Excluding warrants, there were 122 rises versus 325 falls.

An overnight fall on Wall Street and regional weakness that included a 1.2 per cent fall in Hong Kong were said to be the main factors behind the weakness here. Brokers also mentioned the possibility that the local market's weighting in an MSCI index might be cut to make way for China "A" shares after MSCI said it was considering introducing "A" shares in its Emerging Markets index.