Stocks finish mixed in quiet trading

A NEW day, another nondescript session. The Straits Times Index on Thursday displayed all the verve of a patient on life support, finishing a coma-inducing session a nett 3.3 points weaker at 3,327.84.

Turnover amounted to a weak 907 million units worth S$912.4 million and excluding warrants, the advance-decline score of 208-221 which left about 400 stocks either not traded or unchanged suggested that many investors and traders spent their time indulging in other more exciting pursuits, among them watching grass grow.

For want of better reasons most brokers pointed to Greece and China as the main reasons for the weak state of trading, though many privately admitted that trading has been dead for many months now.