Singapore stocks finish mixed following Wall Street

THE local stock market underwent a quiet trading session on Thursday, with support coming from a firm overnight Wall Street but with a drag coming from a 40-points slide in the Dow futures that indicated a possibly weak opening for the US market on Thursday.

The net result was that Straits Times Index traded for most of the session within a narrow band before ending at 3,228.06 for a loss of 4.41 points on the day.

Turnover was two billion units worth S$1.14 billion - almost exactly the dollar value done on Wednesday - and rounding off a mixed, featureless session with an advance-decline score of 194-192, excluding warrants.

US stocks rose on Wednesday after the improbable news that US President Trump and Democrats in Congress had agreed to a three-month deal to raise the government's debt ceiling and to pay for hurricane relief.

However, some observers were quick to point out that this was only a short-term solution and the problem would surface again soon.