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The Business Times Online Edition - Singapore

Total news: 291
Last news: January 5, 2009 22:00:00

WAS it a case of sell into strength yesterday that led to the Straits Times Index (STI) surrendering a 46-point rise and ending a net 14.94 points lower at 2,544.13? Or was it because the local market is now one of the few with no short-selling ban, making it an isolated target for short-sellers? Or was it, perhaps, a little bit of both? - [Read more]

TWO weeks ago, this column discussed the claim that this bear market is the worst since the Asian regional crisis of 1997. The claim was dismissed, because prices now are nowhere near what they were during the crisis. But we also spoke of where a bottom might lie for the Straits Times Index - and hazarded an educated guess that the 2,300 mark, which represents a 40 per cent loss from last Octobers all-time high of 3,831, might just be it. - [Read more]

IN A hugely volatile day, news of a large concerted injection of cash by central banks yesterday helped the Straits Times Index (STI) avoid a total collapse - it first plunged 109 points or 4.5 per cent, but eventually finished with just a 0.08 of a point loss at 2,419.21. - [Read more]

NOT surprisingly, the local market shrugged off Wall Streets feeble overnight rally and opted to sell into strength yesterday. - [Read more]

SHORT - SELLERS had a field day yesterday, riding the waves of margin calls and forced selling that swept through the local market after an overnight plunge on Wall Street where major indices lose more than 4 per cent. After a volatile day, the Straits Times Index (STI) ended 25.12 points lower at 2,461.43 - a fifth loss in six days that took it to a two-year low. Still, thanks to short-covering in the afternoon, the index did end about 50 points above its morning low of 2,412. - [Read more]

STOCKS here dived yesterday, led by banks, as markets across Asia reeled from the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the takeover of Merrill Lynch in the US. The Straits Times Index (STI) finished 84.12 points or 3.3 per cent lower at 2,486.55 after falling as much as 3.5 per cent earlier in the day. - [Read more]

STOCKS here and elsewhere in Asia face a very turbulent week ahead, with renewed fears rippling through the US financial sector, a decision on US interest rates tomorrow, and earnings reports from major Wall Street investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. - [Read more]

ON MONDAY, the Straits Times Index (STI) rose 120 points following news of a US government bailout of government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. - [Read more]

STOCKS were yesterday caught in a tug-of-war between opposing forces - on the one side were fear and the urge to sell because of a possible collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers that sent Wall Street tumbling on Tuesday, and on the other were greed and the urge to buy in case Lehman gets rescued by US officialdom on Wednesday, in which case recent history suggests a rally is likely. - [Read more]

PERHAPS not surprisingly, Mondays rally fizzled out yesterday. Trading returned to a by-now- familiar pattern of weak prices and thinning volume as traders anticipated a weak Tuesday session for Wall Street. - [Read more]

NEWS that the US government has seized control of its two troubled mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, yesterday triggered a large short-covering squeeze in stock markets everywhere, but observers were quick to question the sustainability of the rebound. - [Read more]

ITS not often that fear trumps greed in the stock market but this is one such occasion at the moment - no one wants to buy for fear of immediate loss. According to one ballpark estimate, over half of daily activity is generated by programme-short-selling, short covering and day trading. - [Read more]

YOU can tell just how bad sentiment is by the number of broking reports making their rounds via e-mail - in yesterdays session, no more than one or two could be found as prices continued to melt in the wake of the overnight collapse on Wall Street. - [Read more]

THE bottom fell out of the local stock market yesterday, as heavy selling throughout the session meant the Straits Times Index (STI) sliced through its key support level of 2,650 with frightening ease to sink to a new 22-month low, possibly ahead of a plunge in the US on Thursday. - [Read more]

THE phrases bear trap and sell into strength sprang to mind when observing yesterdays stock market action, two unwelcome phrases from the point of view of those who bought during Tuesdays run-up. - [Read more]

TRADERS all around the globe - Singapore included - yesterday bet on Wall Street rebounding when it reopens on Tuesday after a Monday public holiday, thanks to a sharp drop in oil prices that led to a big jump in the US futures market. - [Read more]

THE Straits Times Index shot up 49 points on Friday but fell back by 26.16 points to 2,713.79 yesterday in the wake of weakness throughout the region and renewed economic-cum-earnings worries on Wall Street. - [Read more]

M ARK Twain once wrote that there are three kinds of lies - lies, damned lies and statistics. (It was actually former British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli who coined the phrase but it was Twain who popularised the notion that statistics can be used to tell lies). - [Read more]

THE biggest challenge for dealers this week was how to deal with Post-Olympic Withdrawal Syndrome (POWS), a condition that has been reported to be afflicting the China citizenry. - [Read more]

YESTERDAYS advance-decline score, excluding warrants and Straits Times Index (STI) components, was 161-178, a surprisingly firm figure that optimists might interpret as suggesting that the selling may have tapered off for the time being. - [Read more]