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AFTER three sessions of rebounds, a familiar sea of red returned to the Singapore bourse yesterday, sparked by profit-taking, tumbling regional bourses and nerves.
Taken individually, they might not amount to much, but when combined, they sank the Straits Times Index (STI) by 118.42 points, or 3.75 per cent, to 3,041.06.
The STI is now down 424.57 points, or 12.25 per cent, for the year.
CIMB-GK research head Song Seng Wun said: 'We were hit by a general Asia- wide selldown, with no clarity on how the medium term outlook will look like.
'It was irrational, indiscriminate selling across the board sparked by fear.'
The three-day rally was sent to a screeching halt from the opening bell following the Dow Jones Industrial Average's 171-point retreat last Friday.
And as regional bourses in Japan, Hong Kong and Shanghai echoed Wall Street's tumble, the STI followed suit, slumping to an intra-day low of 3,004.76.
No key stock was spared in the selldown, with all 30 STI component shares ending in negative territory.
A remisier said: 'The earlier rally was unsustainable, and investors made the most of it by taking profit today.'
Banks bore the brunt of the bearish mood. DBS Group Holdings retreated 88 cents to $18.06 and was the day's third-biggest loser, accounting for a 14.8-point fall in the STI.
United Overseas Bank fell 58 cents to $17.50, while OCBC Bank was down 20 cents to $7.60.
Property counters fared no better. City Developments fell 68 cents to $12.20, CapitaLand dropped 28 cents to $6.25 and Keppel Land was down 22 cents to $6.43.
Other blue chips felt the pain as well. SingTel fell 12 cents to $3.64, while Singapore Exchange lost 72 cents to $10.16.
China stocks listed in Singapore were pummelled after Shanghai's 7.19 per cent collapse.
The FTSE ST China Index, which tracks 50 such counters, fell 5.6 per cent to 567.77.
A dealer said: 'Investors were also spooked by worries over more measures by Beijing to cool the economy and to control inflation.'
Cosco Corp fell 27 cents to $4.64, while Yangzijiang dropped 11 cents to $1.35.
Also heading south were the FTSE ST Mid Cap and Small Cap indexes. The Mid Cap Index shed 3 per cent to 767.28, while the Small Cap Index also slipped by the same percentage to 674.59.
Despite the overall gloom and doom, Straits Trading jumped 67 cents to $6.56 to be the day's top gainer. This came after Tecity raised its offer price for the firm by 14 per cent, following a counter- offer by the Lee family of OCBC last week.
Analysts warn of more turbulence this week, even as the market prepares for a boost from a further interest rate cut after the US Federal Reserve meeting.
Mr Song added: 'The uncertain environment is here to stay for the whole of the first quarter. Thus, the market can undergo big swings as investors prefer to err on the side of caution.'
alfoo@sph.com.sg
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