STI weakens in line with Dow futures

WEDNESDAY'S trading session was cautious and volatile as traders looked to the Dow futures for direction following large swings on Wall Street over the past few days.

The Straits Times Index (STI) first slid to an intraday low of 2,800 before climbing up to 2,809.35 for a net loss of 9.03 points at 5pm. This was almost in exact lockstep with the movements in the Dow futures, the latter recording a 25-point rise at 5pm that gave hope that Wall Street would stabilise on Wednesday.

Turnover amounted to 1.2 billion units worth S$1.05 billion compared with Tuesday's S$1.4 billion, and excluding warrants there were 160 rises versus 187 falls. Trading in the 30 index components accounted for S$688.3 million or 66 per cent of total business.