Stocks Fall on Trade Data
April 03, 2011
The 30-share Straits Times Industrials Index fell 28.78 to 2174.06. Volume was estimated at 91 million shares. The most important factor that damped trading was the weak June trade data, which surprised the market, said dealers. Over the weekend, the Trade Development Board announced that non-oil domestic exports in June fell 6.1%, compared with earlier market expectations of a rise in 7.5%. Dealers added that the data showed the electronics sector, which is one of the key export-driven areas of the economy, slowed down faster and more sharply than expected. That lead to the drop in the SES Electronics Index of 1.33 points to 80.86.
