Banks, O&M stocks hit as selling resumes

THE selling which has marked the start of 2016 returned on Thursday with a vengeance, with the Straits Times Index (STI) plunging 51.93 points or 1.93 per cent to 2,644.57. Offshore and marine (O&M) stocks were heavily sold off as oil prices slipped below the US$30 per barrel mark while bank stocks were also not spared.

Because of the battering dished out to blue chips, volume again crossed S$1 billion at 1.3 billion units worth S$1.2 billion, of which S$873 million or…