Wall St's strength spills over to local market

GAINS in Singtel, Thai Beverage and the banks helped propel the Straits Times Index up 26.2 points or almost one per cent to 2,945.74 on Wednesday.

Turnover rose from Tuesday's S$935 million to 1.2 billion units worth S$1.2 billion, boosted not just by active trading of Singtel but heavy selling of Wilmar International, which said it expects a loss of US$230 million for its second quarter ended June 30.

Although the STI turned in a strong showing, the broad market did not, recording an advance-decline score of 238-150 excluding warrants.