Thanksgiving slump extends across Asia

THURSDAY proved glum for equities here, as Thanksgiving lethargy in the US extended across the Pacific. The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) dipped by 6.85 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 3,423.17, after finishing the day before at its highest since May 2015. More than 2.63 billion shares changed hands, but on value of just S$976.9 million, with losers outnumbering gainers 311 to 143.

Small pops of optimism - on the back of the morning's strong growth figures and the afternoon's muted inflation data - failed to save the local bourse.

The STI ticked up to 3,430.02 at 9 am, after third-quarter gross domestic product growth clocked in at a three-year high of 5.2 per cent on the same period last year.