Singapore's stock market exhausted after running on fumes

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http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/premium/singapore-markets/others/exhausted-after-running-fumes-20140912

There was little to differentiate Thursday's trading from Wednesday's or, for that matter, Wednesday's from last Wednesday's or any day in the past few weeks.

The actives' list comprised more or less the same names as it has for a month, the Straits Times Index's (STI) movements were as listless as ever and input from market players was that a market in which liquidity has evaporated and has been running on fumes for months is now probably exhausted.

"Each day is merging into the next in a haze without much change," said one dealer. "You can just use a standard template to write the market report and few would notice."

The STI on Thursday displayed its now-familiar lack of verve when it rose about nine points in the morning - probably short-covering after weakness on Wednesday - before closing with a nett gain of 8.65 points at 3,347.28.

Turnover, too, had a familiar look to it, amounting to 1.2 billion units worth S$503.4 million, figures best summed up by one word - weak. Excluding warrants, there were 181 rises versus 219 falls, so the session was weaker than the index's rise implied.