Dow futures weakness drags STI down

WEAKNESS in the Dow futures on Tuesday outweighed slight gains in Hong Kong and China, bringing pressure to bear on the Straits Times Index (STI). The selling accelerated in the late afternoon, after Europe opened in the red, leaving the STI to finish 30.54 points or 1 per cent lower at 3,052.53 on a low volume of 1.3 billion units worth S$953.5 million.

Of this, S$683 million or 68 per cent came from trading in the 30 index stocks. Stripping out the latter, the average value per unit traded was S$0.29. Excluding warrants, there were 132 rises versus 285 falls.

The STI had risen for four consecutive days before Tuesday, gaining about 64 points, driven largely by promises of more stimulus from central banks in Europe, China and Japan.