Singapore stocks finish firmer with pennies and banks in play

ROTATIONAL playing of penny stocks was perhaps the dominant theme of Wednesday's session, even though the Straits Times Index (STI) managed a 14.85 points rise to 3,145.29.

Dollar volume has been on the downtrend in recent sessions, from the average of S$1.5 billion per day last week to just over S$1billion now - better than last year when it regularly dropped below S$1 billion but nonetheless a downtrend worth keeping an eye on.

On Wednesday, turnover amounted to 2.6 billion units worth S$1.14 billion for an average of S$0.44 per unit. Excluding warrants, there were 256 rises versus 204 falls.

The rise in STI came in response to a rebound in the Dow futures and a firm closing for Hong Kong.

Banks have been instrumental in moving and supporting the index throughout the past year and so it was the case on Wednesday, with all three ending firmer. In total, gains in DBS Bank, UOB and OCBC Bank added about nine points to STI.