Singapore stocks finish Friday mixed; STI down 1.5% for week

NORTH Korea's nuclear test last weekend brought the sellers out in the early part of the week, though prices stabilised when it appeared that the US's response would be mainly through diplomatic channels.

Markets, however, soon found another wall of worry to try and climb, namely the US government's debt ceiling, the concern being whether the ceiling would be raised before the end of the month or whether there would be a government shutdown leading to a default on its debt obligations.

As a result, the Straits Times Index spent most of the week locked within a narrow band after a Monday selloff. On Friday, despite an 80 points plunge in the Dow futures, the STI enjoyed a late push that saw it record a net gain of 0.5 of a point to 3,228.56, though did little to reduce its 49 points or 1.5 per cent loss for the week.