Singapore stocks close weaker but STI stays in the black for 2016

THROUGHOUT 2016, the 2,882 level has proven troublesome for the Straits Times Index (STI), this being the point at which the index ended 2015. After four or five failed attempts to stay above it during the past 12 months, a window-dressing push on Tuesday and Wednesday this week that took the index almost to 2,900 was thwarted on Thursday after an overnight plunge on Wall Street brought the sellers out.

In thin volume, the index first dropped to an intraday low of 2,878 before either a bout of short-covering or yet another feeble window-dressing attempt enabled it to climb to 2,889.15, a net loss of 9.15 points on the day; but more importantly, a gain of about seven points or 0.24 per cent for the year with only one trading day left.

Turnover, however, was a poor 1.2 billion units worth S$565 million, though this was very much par for the course at this time of the year. Excluding warrants, there were 186 rises versus 214 falls.