STI takes direction from Dow futures

THE closure of Hong Kong and China for a public holiday on Thursday brought some relief to a battered Straits Times Index which had fallen 79 points between Monday and Wednesday.

With no China volatility to contend with and because the futures contract on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 70 on Thursday for Wall Street, the STI managed a 28.3-point or one per cent rebound to 2,906.43.

Volume, however, was poor at 1.1 billion units worth S$642 million, about half the recent averages. Excluding warrants, there were 240 rises versus 143 falls.