External woes continue to weigh on STI

A SOFT session that ended with the Straits Times Index (STI) 13.34 points weaker at 3,320.33, a low volume of 1.4 billion units worth S$1.01 billion and not much action in blue chips or penny stocks - some brokers rated Monday's trading on the local stock market about as exciting as watching grass grow.

Various reasons were given for the funk the local market has found itself in for many months now - Greece's never-ending debt problems, uncertainty over when the US will raise interest rates, the vast explosion of interest in China stocks despite the country's slowing economy and a withdrawal of liquidity after the US Federal Reserve ended its quantitative-easing (QE) programme.

All these factors have combined to drag most regional bourses lower - with the exception of Hong Kong, which has enjoyed large volume and interest following its link to the Shanghai exchange.