Earnings season provides main play this week

CORPORATE earnings were the main focus this week, during which the Straits Times Index (STI) rose 40 points or 1.4 per cent to 2,867.40, including Friday's 2.42-point drop.

Providing the backdrop was a largely firm Wall Street, still basking in the "Goldilocks" glow of the previous week's employment report that suggested economic growth is robust, but not robust enough to justify significant interest rate hikes.

Turnover here, however, was mediocre, with Friday's session seeing one billion units worth S$916 million traded, below the S$1 billion daily average this year. On Friday, S$565 million or 62 per cent was done in the 30 STI components.