Scottish vote, FOMC meeting main features in quiet week

THE two big events of the week just past were the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and the Scottish referendum on independence. Both went the way of those bullish on stocks - the FOMC kept to the language that markets wanted with regard to interest rates, while Scotland voted to stay in the United Kingdom, thus saving the currency and stock market from any turmoil accompanying its exit.

The impact of both these events however, was muted. Having collapsed 73 points on Monday and Tuesday, the Straits Times Index only managed to bounce about 33 points in the next three days, of which 7.76 points came in Friday's session. Over the week, the index fell 40 points or 1.2 per cent to 3,305.05.

Turnover, which has been dismal for many months, perked up slightly in the first few days, then slumped on Wednesday and Thursday before picking up again on Friday. On Thursday, a counter priced at 0.1 Singapore cent accounted for almost 30 per cent of the entire market's unit volume; on Friday, 1.7 billion units worth S$1.2 billion were traded. The week's highest turnover was the S$1.26 billion done on Tuesday; the lowest was S$909 million on Monday.