Wall St's selloff brings out sellers here

TRADERS who bet that the Straits Times Index's Tuesday weakness foretold a plunge ahead on Wall Street would have got it right as the US market closed weaker during its Tuesday session.

However, even though those traders have got the direction right, few would have anticipated the size of Wall Street's plunge - the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.9 per cent and the S&P 500 1.7 per cent.

A sudden upward burst in the US dollar was blamed for Wall Street's blowout, though underlying the move was probably the spectre of interest rates being raised sooner rather than later. Whatever the case, the outcome was yet more selling here that pulled the Straits Times Index 19.67 points down to 3,378.59 - its third consecutive fall this week. A rebound in the late afternoon when Europe opened in the black however, took the STI off its day lows and raised hopes that Wall Street will also recover some ground on Wednesday.