Singapore stocks finish only slightly weaker despite plunge in Dow futures

THE local stock market on Wednesday shrugged off political worries surrounding the Trump administration that drove the Dow futures down by more than 100 points in the afternoon. After dropping to an intraday low of 3,207, the Straits Times Index rebounded in the late afternoon to finish at 3,224.10, a loss of just 3.61 points.

Turnover throughout the whole market was a moderate 2.3 billion units worth S$1.3 billion and, excluding warrants, there were 214 rises versus 234 falls - reasonably firm considering the potential Wednesday sell-off on Wall Street.

Brokers woke up to news that the White House has had to deny reports that President Donald Trump had asked former Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey to drop an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn's alleged links to Russia just before Mr Trump sacked Mr Comey.

Analysts were quoted as saying that given the problems engulfing the incumbent administration, doubts are surfacing over its ability to push through the economic agenda on which Wall Street has been banking. Apart from the sell-off in the futures market, the US dollar was also hit, losing ground against the Japanese yen and euro.